More OSHA Updates: New Administration, New Standards, HCS Updates and More

Posted By Brandy King
April 16, 2021 Category: OSHA, Safety, OSHA Updates, HAZCOM, HCS, Heat Illness, Occupational Safety, Violence In The Workplace, OSHA Citations, Secretary Of Labor

New Administration Former member of the Biden-Harris transition team Douglas L. Parker is the Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Labor He currently serves as chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), a position he has held since 2019. Prior to his appointment to Cal/OSHA, Parker was executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland, California-based legal services provider. Workplace safety enforcement will be more aggressive and robust under an OSHA governed by the Biden administration, and Parker will be tasked with overseeing those enforcement efforts. Employers should prepare for these more aggressive policies by ensuring that their safety and health programs are compliant with rules that are still in place and govern American workplaces. Employers should work to identify and eliminate workplace safety hazards. The new administration has made it clear they intend to double the number of OSHA investigators to enforce the law and existing standards and guidelines. “It will likely take around 18 months for new inspectors to be trained and begin conducting inspections. Once those new compliance officers are in the field, employers can expect more OSHA inspectors knocking on their doors.”1 Secretary of Labor Sworn In Marty J. Walsh was sworn in as the nation’s 29th Secretary of Labor on March 23, and immediately shared a public message about his commitment to America’s w