Labor Department may revoke Arizona’s oversight over its work safety program

Arizona could lose oversight of its work safety program because of what the Labor Department calls failures to adopt and enforce adequate standards and enforcement policies. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said April 20 that it filed a proposal to reconsider and revoke the final approval of the state’s OSHA plan and could ultimately revoke final approval if the state plan is not at least as effective as workplace plans set by OSHA. “OSHA has grown increasingly concerned that actions by the Arizona State OSHA Plan suggest the state is either unable or unwilling to maintain its commitment to provide a program for worker safety and health protection as the [Occupational Safety and Health Act] requires,” the labor department said in an April 20 news release.