OSHA’s Slow-Mo Rulemaking Pace Draws Democrats’ Ire at Hearing

OSHA Assistant Secretary Doug Parker defended the agency’s rulemaking efforts Wednesday during a heated appearance before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

Committee Democrats found the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s efforts to enact rules covering Covid-19, heat stress, and workplace violence moving too slowly, and Republicans questioned OSHA’s failed Covid-19 vaccination-or-test rule. This was Parker’s first appearance before the subcommittee that oversees OSHA since he was sworn in Nov. 3, 2021.

Subcommittee Chair Alma Adams (D-N.C.) faulted OSHA’s spring 2021 decision to enact a Covid-19 emergency temporary standard that covered only health-care employers and workers, but not other high ...