In 1970, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) in an effort to “assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions.” That Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which was charged with gathering information and setting health and safety standards for businesses. Maybe when you think of workplace health and safety issues you think about risks from heavy equipment, but one major workplace health hazard is stress. One study found that workplace stress contributes to at least 120,000 deaths each year and up to $190 billion in health costs. In addition, many workers are exposed to traumatic events at work, and some of those suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But somehow, three Republican appointees on the Fifth Circuit recently decided in Exxon Mobil Corporation v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission that OSHA lacks authority to gather data about workplace mental illnesses.
When Congress passed the OSH Act, it authorized OSHA to “prescribe regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of, and to make periodic reports on, work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses….” Initially, OSHA’s regulations did not treat mental illness differently from other illnesses, but on the final day of the Clinton Administration, OSHA promulgated a new rule in recognition of the fact that it is often harder to tell whether a mental illness is...
Compliance It’s the second federal contractor to settle with the Department of Justice over claims related to DEI programs without admitting to any wrongdoing. August 31, 2026 • 3 min read I-9 in n...