Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced his resignation in early February. At the time of the update, he has not actually stepped down and ideas are being tossed around about his potential replacement. Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su is expected to take over as acting secretary, which presents the possibility that she could be our next Secretary of Labor. Regardless of who fills the shoes, OSHA field offices and inspectors will stay busy (see below) – which means employers need to stay diligent.

Expansion of combustible dust NEP – This National Emphasis program has now been expanded to the following industries:

311812 – Commercial Bakeries
325910 – Printing Ink Manufacturing
321912 – Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planning
316110 – Leather and Hide Tanning and Finishing
321214 – Truss Manufacturing
424510 – Grain and Field Bean Merchant Wholesalers

The NEP was revised after enforcement reports indicated that wood and food products made up over half of the materials involved in combustible dust fires and explosions.

Instance-by-Instance Citations – Also in February, OSHA announced a change in how they may handle enforcement to discourage non-compliance. Instead of grouping citations, Regional Administrators and Area Directors can use their authority to cite each instance of non-compliance separately. These will theoretically be reserved for “high gravity,” serious, and repeated violations including lockout/tagout, machine guarding, confined space, trenching and several more. You can read more about it here.

Employee Representation During Inspections – OSHA is expected to publish its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) this May for a proposal that would permit workers to designate another worker or union representative to accompany an OSHA inspector during a walk-through. More importantly, it could be permitted regardless of whether the rep is your employee, or your facility is unionized.

If this sounds familiar, the letter of interpretation referred to as the “Fairfax Memo” issued in 2013 stated roughly the same thing, and was rescinded in 2017 in light of a federal lawsuit filed by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. We’ll keep you informed of any updates on this, and when the NRPM enters the commentary phase. In the meantime, make sure your management and safety teams are on the same page about how inspections will be handled, should the occasion arise.