Heat, Workplace Violence Rulemakings Still on OSHA’s Agenda

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By Guy Burdick

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) rulemakings on heat injury and illness prevention and workplace violence in healthcare and social services remain on the list of the agency’s regulatory actions, according to a Department of Labor (DOL) regulatory agenda notice published September 22 (90 Fed. Reg. 45536).

The DOL published a notice of economically significant regulatory actions that include four OSHA rulemakings in the proposed rule stage, two long-term actions, and one completed action (withdrawal of the agency’s infectious disease rulemaking).

OSHA’s rulemaking on heat injury and illness prevention is one of four economically significant proposed rules. The agency issued a proposed rule on August 30, 2024. OSHA stated it would use public comments on the proposed rule to develop a final rule that protects workers, is feasible for employers, and is based on the best-available evidence.

So far, California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have all established their own heat illness prevention rules, and New Mexico issued a proposed rule earlier this year.

The other three economically significant rulemakings in the proposed rule stage are those for:

  • Communication Tower Safety: The agency began an industry-specific rulemaking in 2015 following a spike in worker fatalities. OSHA issued a request for information (RFI) and conducted a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) review. The agency suggested a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) could appear in October.
  • Emergency Response: In 2007, OSHA began work on an emergency response rulemaking to replace the agency’s decades-old fire brigades standard. A new rule would reflect significant developments in safety and health practices in the emergency response community, including those that have been incorporated into industry consensus standards. The agency published a proposed rule in February 2024, and it continues to analyze comments on the proposal.
  • Tree Care: The industry petitioned OSHA in 2008 to establish an industry-specific standard, and the agency completed a SBREFA review in 2020. OSHA indicated a proposed rule could appear in April 2026.

OSHA published an RFI in 2016 regarding workplace violence in healthcare and social assistance. It issued workplace violence prevention guidelines in 1996, which it updated in 2004 and 2016. OSHA currently uses its authority under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (Section 5(a)(1)) in enforcement cases involving workplace violence in healthcare.

As part of its SBREFA review of the rulemaking, the agency convened a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) panel in March 2023, which issued a report on May 1, 2023. Whether or when the agency will issue an NPRM is to be determined.

OSHA’s other economically significant long-term action is a rulemaking to revise its safety management standard to address the prevention of major chemical accidents. OSHA published an RFI in 2013 and completed a SBREFA review in August 2016. Next steps in the rulemaking are to be determined.

The regulatory agenda notice also discussed one completed action: OSHA’s withdrawal of its infectious disease rulemaking. The rulemaking was intended to address disease hazards in healthcare posed by tuberculosis (TB), varicella disease (chickenpox, shingles), Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and measles, as well as new and emerging infections, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), and pandemic influenza. However, in compliance with Executive Order 14192 (“Unleashing Prosperity through Deregulation”), OSHA decided the rulemaking on infectious disease is no longer an agency priority and has withdrawn the rulemaking from the regulatory agenda.