OSHA Proritizes the Inclusion of Third-Party Representatives in Safety Inspection Rules.

• OSHA wants to amend the current rules regarding physical safety inspections. The current rule requires that all representatives authorized by employees must be under the employment of the employer. However, OSHA suggests to amend this requirement by generalizing the rules to include third parties, as well as employees of employers.
• Current federal rules permit a third party, defined as a non-employee, to participate in safety inspections only when their skills are “reasonably necessary”.
• OSHA’s intention with this revision is to allow a wide selection of third-party representatives “based upon a range of knowledge, skills, or experience beyond that obtained through formal or technical education.”
• The agency proposes that all OSHA-covered sites participate in the amendment. This change would affect a large portion of businesses in the USA, as a vast number of them are represented by OSHA, including many schools, nonprofits, and churches.
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OSHA Intends to Improve Their Emergency Response Standards to More Effectively Support Workers. 

• OSHA proposed an update to its standards on emergency response, which is currently under final federal review. This round of appraisal is one of the last steps before the update can be published.
• There is a proposed rule that intends to address a larger range of safety concerns and hazards that emergency responders and similarly skilled workers face.
• OSHA acknowledges that none of their rules are fully comprehensive and many were issued decades ago, which consequently affects more workers as time passes. The organization wants to facilitate major changes in its standards, specifically regarding safety equipment and protective clothing.
• OSHA has given further comment, stating that major developments in health and safety practices are not reflected in their current standards and they wish to expand said standards to include a higher degree of safety for more of the emergency response community.
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United States Agencies Work Together to Protect Employees from Retaliation for Safety Complaints. 

• Agencies in the U.S. that enforce labor laws and workplace safety rules have declared their intention to work together, through investigative and enforcement measures, to protect workers who raise safety concerns from retaliation.
• Although similar partnerships have been forged in the past, the new agreement is the first to coordinate multiple agencies to enforce laws and investigations prohibiting workers who raise safety concerns from facing retaliation.
• The agencies intend to conduct cross-training for staff in support of enforcement activities, as well as to share more information that endorses the enforcement of their proposal.
• Unions and the NLRB general counsel’s office will be given more access to workplaces as a result of this collaboration. Therefore, NLRB is likely to file more complaints against employers, which has generated backlash among some of those affected.
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Effect on Welfare Will Help Hospital Employees Cope with Increasing Workplace Distress. 

• NIOSH, the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, announced the launch of a new campaign, called Effect on Welfare. NIOSH intends to improve workplace policies and practices to benefit health professionals by providing evidence-informed resources to hospital leaders.
• Hospital workers have faced a continued increase in employee burnout as a result of challenging working conditions. NIOSH suggests that practical changes can help workers cope with the current onslaught of long working hours, hazardous exposure risk, and stressful workloads. The institute believes that hospital leaders need support to facilitate these organizational changes and create better working conditions.
•  Effect on Welfare intends to provide leaders with actionable steps to support quality improvement, build new workflows, and create a safe space for staff to seek help.
• The campaign also allows hospital leaders to remove mental health questions on credentialing applications, which is one of the most significant barriers to the healthcare workforce benefit system. This has the potential to help healthcare workers feel that their hospital supports their physical and mental health and creates a safer space to seek care.
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