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OSHA held a web chat last week on its proposed rule on Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica that gave small businesses and other stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions about a proposal that OSHA predicts will prevent thousands of deaths from silicosis, lung cancer, and other diseases among the American workforce.

OSHA fielded some tough questions last week during its web chat on its proposed rule on Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica. Cost concerns popped up frequently during the interactive session, which was intended to provide small businesses and other stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions about a proposal that OSHA predicts will prevent thousands of deaths from silicosis, lung cancer, and other diseases among the American workforce.

Last week the Politico Playbook daily newsletter noted the coming retirement of Rep. George Miller (D-CA) by saying the 40-year veteran of Congress was one of the last of the Democratic “Watergate babies”… “part of a post-Vietnam 70s generation filled with moral certitude.”

I am Tom Lawrence from the St. Louis, MO area.  I have chemical engineering degrees and 43 years’ experience as a safety professional.  I am here today to vigorously oppose this proposed regulation.

Congress is using an omnibus appropriations bill scheduled to be voted on this week to remind OSHA of a 36-year-old Congressional exemption that keeps small farms out of the agency’s regulatory reach. The language added to the bill “makes crystal clear…that OSHA policies and inspectors better get in line with the law,” according to U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).

OSHA’s proposal to improve the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses will either improve worker safety or pose an undue burden on employers. Those are among the reactions being voiced by safety advocates and industry groups as OSHA holds public meetings on the proposal.

Want to learn more about OSHA’s proposed rule on occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica? The agency will host a live web chat tomorrow from 1 – 1:30 p.m. EST to discuss it.

A rule to establish standards for combustible dust that’s been in the works since 2009 is scheduled to move closer to completion in 2014, with a proposed draft regulation due this spring. Worker safety advocates and agencies like the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) have expressed frustration over OSHA’s failure to make faster progress in making a combustible dust regulatory change.

The tightly-knit Washington OSHA subculture will be out in force this Thursday no matter what the wind-chill factor is to attend an all-day (9-4:30) hearing at the Labor Department set up to, in Washington-speak, “allow interested parties to comment on the proposed rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.

OSHA announced yesterday that it will extend the comment period to March 8, 2014 on the proposed rule to improve workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.