WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced an initiative July 1, 2025, that proposes eliminating or revising numerous regulations deemed outdated, duplicative, or unnecessarily inflexible. Changes proposed as part of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) deregulation efforts can affect various safety rules.

Some of the key areas and specific rules affected include:

General Duty Clause: OSHA proposes to narrow its interpretation of the General Duty Clause, which has traditionally been used to address hazards not covered by specific standards. The proposed change would limit enforcement in professional activities with inherent risks like sports and entertainment.

Respiratory Protection Standards: Revisions are proposed for the Respiratory Protection Standard, specifically concerning the requirement for medical evaluations for employees using certain types of respirators, such as filtering facepiece respirators and loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators. Similar changes are also suggested for specific substance standards to enhance flexibility.

Recordkeeping and Reporting: OSHA is withdrawing a proposal to add a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders to the OSHA 300 Log. The COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard and its related recordkeeping rules are also slated for removal.

Construction Safety Standards: Proposed changes include the removal of minimum illumination requirements for construction sites and the revocation of regulations governing the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH).

Hazard Color Code: OSHA proposes eliminating certain safety color code requirements, stating that other regulations adequately address hazards. 

The proposed OSHA deregulation aims to streamline or remove certain regulations, particularly focusing on areas where OSHA believes standards are outdated, duplicative, or do not offer substantial worker risk reduction.