The state is lessening one compliance headache for business owners. On March 30, the state’s Department of Consumer and Business Services announced that “In line with updated public health guidance from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Oregon OSHA will rescind its COVID-19 requirements for all workplaces and employer-provided housing beginning April 3, 2023. “

Safety experts warn that employers should still prepare to manage workplace safety conditions during extreme temperatures this summer despite the Trump administration’s freeze on rulemaking that took effect in January.

With the spring tornado season ramping up, OSHA is calling on employers to develop an emergency plan, learn the warning signs, and monitor tornado watches and warnings.

On March 27, 2025, the Kentucky General Assembly enacted House Bill 398 (HB 398), which will significantly impact the regulation of workplace safety and health in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. HB 398 aligns Kentucky safety regulations with federal workplace safety standards, which many believe are less protective than the set of state-industry-specific regulations currently in place in the state. Three days earlier, on March 24, 2025, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshar vetoed HB 398 citing concerns over the bill’s impact on worker safety. On March 27, the Commonwealth’s House and Senate each met the simple majority required to override Beshar’s veto.

With more than 30 years of experience representing injured and disabled workers, Pond unpacks what’s behind Rep. Andy Biggs’s (R-Ariz.) proposed NOSHA Act—a bill seeking to abolish OSHA entirely—and offered insight into what a second Trump administration might mean for workplace safety enforcement. The conversation also examines the nomination of former UPS and Amazon safety executive David Keeling as the next OSHA administrator.

Numbers don’t lie, but sometimes they can be misleading. OSHA conducted fewer fatality investigations in fiscal 2024 than fiscal 2023 while recording fewer deaths involving trench collapses and falls. But that doesn’t mean the risk of death in construction is necessarily lower than before. It might mean, however, that the industry is getting smarter about how to protect workers. That starts with PPE.

H.R. 86, “Nullify Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act (NOSHA),” was introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), with the stated purpose of abolishing federal OSHA, leaving it up to the states to set and enforce workplace safety and health standards. (Refer to “The Pros and Cons: Maintaining Safety Balance in Efforts to Disrupt OSHA in 2025” for more details.) Whether or not the bill moves forward through Congress (it currently has no co-sponsors), we wanted to hear what the EHS community thinks of the idea. So we created a quick poll and asked EHS Today readers: Should federal OSHA be abolished?

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is advising employers that most of its COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Standards ended this week. Cal/OSHA’s regulations, which took effect on February 3, 2023, remained in effect for two years, except for reporting and recordkeeping requirements, which will continue until 2026.

With the uncertainty around how OSHA will look under the new administration, I took the opportunity to answer a few questions about the proposal and OSHA's evolving regulatory environment.