Worker rights advocates are opposing a trio of related Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) proposals that would narrow district managers’ authority to require additional safety measures at coal mines, arguing MSHA has failed to demonstrate the proposals are necessary and would not harm miners.
October 25, 2025
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Employers are closely watching a pair of related cases awaiting rulings from the 10th Circuit that could temper OSHA’s ability to issue citations under the General Duty Clause for workplace violence by imposing stricter requirements on the agency’s burden of proof, legal experts say.
A mining industry group is warning that a “fully functional” National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is vital to ensuring the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) can achieve the goals of its proposal to ease the process for using certain respirators in mines.
The National Construction Policy Institute (NCPI) is outlining legislative and regulatory changes it says are necessary to create a “fair, predictable, and legally defensible” framework for OSHA’s controversial multi-employer citation policy, arguing the agency’s current approach is “unsustainable.”
A pair of recent court rulings has created procedural and constitutional uncertainty over the way OSHA adjudicates the majority of its whistleblower complaint docket, leading to possible inconsistent outcomes across cases in the short term and the potential for judicial and legislative changes to the process in the long term, legal experts say.
South Carolina is urging the 4th Circuit to reinstate its litigation challenging OSHA’s requirement that states match annual increases to federal minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties, arguing a lower court erred in finding South Carolina’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claims were time-barred.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight, but signed a measure to reduce worker exposure to crystalline silica in the stone fabrication industry.
The Senate’s confirmation earlier this month of Jonathan Snare to serve on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) restores its ability to review administrative law judge (ALJ) decisions, although OSHRC still lacks a quorum to make decisions on cases sent for review.
With the Senate’s recent confirmation of David Keeling as the head of OSHA, agency observers are outlining potential regulatory and enforcement changes under the Trump administration, including likely rollbacks of certain reporting requirements and other Biden-era priorities while possibly finalizing some version of a national heat standard.
Industry and business groups are ramping up a campaign to convince California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a labor-backed bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight.