On July 30, OSHA revised its internal procedures for accessing employee medical records. The final rule shifts the authority for access from the assistant secretary of occupational safety and health to the OSHA medical records officer.

The National Safety Council (NSC) urged Governor Larry Hogan (R-Md.), chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA), and Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.), vice chairman of the NGA, to develop consistent testing and tracing protocols for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections. The NSC and a coalition that included state safety councils called on the governors of all 50 states to make effective testing and contact tracing protocols a top focus as state stay-at-home orders expire and workplaces reopen.

Workers’ health and safety are increasingly at risk due to the impacts of climate change that include excessive heat, extreme weather, increasing air and water pollution, and infectious diseases, according to a new report issued July 28 by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses has declined from 10.9 cases per 100 full-time employees in 1972 to 2.8 cases in 2018, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) noted in its monthly publication, Beyond the Numbers.

July 30, 2020 (Final Rule) - OSHA issued a final rule to amend the regulation addressing the rules of agency practice and procedure concerning OSHA access to employee medical records. The final rule transfers the approval of written medical access orders (MAO) from the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health (Assistant Secretary) to the OSHA Medical Records Officer (MRO) and makes the MRO responsible for making determinations regarding interagency transfer and public disclosure of personally identifiable medical information in OSHA's possession.