New regs for Wednesday: Workplace safety, railroads, barley

Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains fewer workplace safety rules and delays railroad training requirements.

Here’s what is happening:

Workplace safety: The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is withdrawing new workplace safety requirements to comply with a congressional mandate.

Under President Obama, OSHA issued new requirements for employers to report workplace injuries and illnesses online. But President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress overturned those rules last month.

So OSHA is withdrawing the changes to the rule, but the original requirements remain in place.

The changes go into effect immediately.

Railroads: The Department of Transportation is delaying training requirements for railroad employees.

The Transportation Department’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued new training requirements for railroad workers who have safety-related jobs in November 2014. But the agency said Tuesday the training program will not be completed in time and must be delayed.

The delay goes into effect in 30 days.

Barley: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is moving forward with new barley standards.

The new barley standards go into effect on Aug. 1, 2018.