SWACCA and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades submitted a joint comment letter supporting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed rule to specifically require that the personal protective equipment construction employers are required to provide properly fits workers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Enacted in December 2022, the PWFA requires covered entities to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer undue hardship.

The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury announced the issuance of a proposed rule to strengthen regulations under the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which aims to ensure that access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits through health insurers is not more restrictive than access to medical and surgical benefits.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a proposed rule to revise its personal protective equipment standard for construction to explicitly require that PPE must fit properly to protect workers from workplace hazards.

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and over 20 of their Democratic colleagues reintroduced the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency Act, legislation to allow Temporary Protected Status recipients to apply for legal permanent residency and receive work authorization.

On March 15, PCA released a statement in support of the EPA’s removal of a recently proposed emissions limit from the final Good Neighbor Federal Implementation Plan.

The American Iron and Steel Institute Standards Council has selected four winning research proposals for its 2023 Small Project/Fellowship Program. Launched in 2014, the program identifies and provides funding for research projects that will significantly impact the reliability, performance and cost-competitiveness of cold-formed steel in construction.

Following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech on Feb. 7, the White House Office of Management and Budget released proposed guidance to boost the use of American-made goods in infrastructure projects, including airports, Coast Guard housing, renovations to federal buildings and other structures funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration held a meeting of its National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health on Jan. 10 to hear updates from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Jim Frederick and a report from NACOSH’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Work Group.

Portland Cement Association, which represents the majority of America’s cement manufacturers, opposes the proposed decision from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to tighten the Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards.