The Nevada Division of Industrial Relations and Nevada OSHA have updated their heat illness dashboard to include data on the state’s newly implemented heat rule.

In effect since April 29, the regulation is aimed at protecting indoor and outdoor workers from excessive heat. The new data provides insights into awareness and enforcement of the regulation. That includes data on complaints, inspections, citations, penalties and workers’ compensation.

Several industry groups weighed in with their concerns about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed heat injury and illness prevention standard as the agency’s comment period closed last week.

This past summer, OSHA held an informal public hearing on its proposal, which concluded on July 2, and it opened a post-hearing comment period that was extended to October 30. In comments submitted after the informal hearing, many industry groups called for a flexible or performance-based approach that takes into account regional differences among facilities and worksites.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) told OSHA that manufacturers need a performance-oriented approach to heat illness and injury prevention. NAM pointed out the geographical differences among manufacturing facilities, suggesting the agency consider regional differences when determining heat triggers. It also asked that OSHA allow employers to determine the ratio of employees to heat safety coordinators, advising against a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

A legal battle between the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office and California’s workplace safety agency has called into question the latter’s authority to investigate law enforcement, including potential workplace safety violations related to an officer’s death. The dispute stems from the death of Marysville Police Officer Osmar Rodarte, who was killed in the line of duty in March during a multi-agency operation. The California Division of Occupational Safety subsequently opened an investigation into the incident, which local law enforcement agencies have pushed back against and resisted cooperation, prompting six-figure fines and a legal standoff.

Construction remains one of the most hazardous industries in the U.S., and OSHA’s new 2025 regulations raise the bar for compliance. With the industry still accounting for more than one in five workplace deaths, safety is no longer a back-office task — it’s a core business function.

OSHA’s recent updates reflect a shift toward prevention and real-time verification. Inspectors are now prioritizing proactive documentation and continuous monitoring through wearable tech and smart helmets. Falls, still the leading cause of construction fatalities, are regulated at lower heights, and new heat illness prevention programs are required in hot climates. Crews must also complete documented hazard analyses before beginning high-risk work such as excavation or steel erection.

States are pushing the Trump administration to change course on narrowing use of a catch-all federal workplace-safety oversight tool, warning it will weaken enforcement of protections more than the government is letting on.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to exclude hazards that are “inherent and inseparable from the core nature” of a job from coverage under its general duty clause , effectively limiting use of the agency’s broad enforcement tool to hold employers liable for workplace injuries and deaths.

The change would limit when the federal government and most states can cite employers for hazards associated with a job’s function.

The Senate on Friday confirmed David Keeling as the new leader of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as part of a resolution including more than 100 other nominations made under the Trump administration.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Mr. Keeling, who was nominated in February for Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, had lead safety roles at United Parcel Service and most recently Amazon.

At Amazon, he was director of road and transportation safety before becoming an independent safety consultant in 2023, according to his LinkedIn account.

As the clock struck midnight on October 1, 2025, appropriated funds to much of the federal government, including the Department of Labor (DOL), lapsed, leading to a shutdown of all “nonessential” operations. Even though an operation may be deemed nonessential, such operations still play a critical role in the overall operation of federal enforcement agencies with DOL such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). As a result, the impact of a federal government shutdown will be substantial for employers navigating a federal OSHA enforcement action or involved in OSHA-related litigation. Note that state occupational safety and health agencies operating under an OSHA-recognized state plan, including large states such as California, will continue to operate normally, as they are subject to different funding streams.

The Department of Labor is providing phone numbers that stakeholders can use instead of agency websites during the federal government shutdown that began on Oct. 1.

One thing you can say about workplace safety violations: companies are very consistent in their noncompliance. Every year, OSHA releases their findings of the top 10 most frequently cited violations, and for the third year in a year, it’s the exact same violations on the list. While the rankings within the Top 10 shifted slightly over the past year, the same group of violations that made the 2024 list, and the 2023 list, appear again on the 2025 list.