News
On October 8, the Coalition for Workplace Safety and 45 employer organizations sent a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee urging them to oppose the newly reintroduced Warehouse Worker Protection Act. The following statement can be attributed to CWS spokesperson Lauren Williams: “As we explained when the Warehouse Worker Protection Act was originally…
Read MoreOn July 15, 2024, Senator Sanders, Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released an interim report on the Committee’s investigation into Amazon’s workplace safety and health practices. The following statement can be attributed to CWS spokesperson Marc Freedman: “This report and investigation are inappropriate uses of committee resources to target a single employer…
Read MoreOn July 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its proposed rule on heat injury and illness prevention in indoor and outdoor workplaces. The rule mandates that employers with a “reasonable expectation” that workers will be exposed to certain heat thresholds have a written Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (HIIPP), track local heat…
Read MoreOn June 5, President Biden nominated Mark Eskenazi to serve as a member of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). CWS urges the Senate to quickly hold a confirmation hearing on his nomination. OSHRC has not had a working quorum since April 2023. Amanda Wood Laihow was nominated to serve on OSHRC in July 2023, and her…
Read MoreOn May 17, the Coalition for Workplace Safety and 58 other employer organizations sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives urging them to pass Representative Mary Miller’s Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s worker walkaround final rule. The following can be attributed to CWS spokesperson Lauren Williams,…
Read MoreOn May 2, 2024, members of Congress introduced their ill-conceived Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which, despite its industry-specific title, will have wide-reaching and damaging consequences for the economy at large. In response, CWS sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject the bill, and 61 employer organizations sent a separate letter emphasizing the breadth…
Read MoreOn March 29, OSHA issued its final rule governing the worker walkaround representative designation process. The rule allows third parties to accompany OSHA safety and health officers on facility inspections, ignoring the significant concerns raised by CWS and the 74 other organizations that joined our comments. The rule will serve to distract OSHA from its core mission–ensuring…
Read MoreOn December 20, CWS submitted comments in response to OSHA’s SBAR Panel on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Settings. In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), OSHA convened a Small Business Advocacy Review panel (SBAR Panel) in August 2023, which facilitated a series of video conferences engaging…
Read MoreOn November 13, CWS and 74 organizations representing employers submitted comments on OSHA’s proposed changes to the regulations governing the Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process. Under the current regulations, safety experts, such as hygienists and safety engineers may accompany OSHA on an inspection of an employer’s worksite. OSHA’s proposal would greatly expand the regulation and…
Read MoreOn September 26, the Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS) and 40 other employer organizations sent a letter to the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections calling out OSHA for its worker walkaround proposed rulemaking and the politicization of the agency that the rulemaking exemplifies. The rule would empower OSHA inspectors to…
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