We are in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the American Bar Association's Workplace Occupational Safety and Health committee's midwinter meeting.
We are in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the American Bar Association's Workplace Occupational Safety and Health committee's midwinter meeting. Today's sessions featured panels of employer and defense attorneys, representatives from various non-profit organizations dedicated to workers safety, and state regulatory agencies discussing the impact of recent deregulation, discrepancy in inspections and enforcement, and the evolution of state plans.
Less Enforcement in 2025/Deregulation
The day's first panel discussed deregulation and enforcement trends by federal OSHA across the country, with some (disputed) data showing a drop in enforcement. The panel first focused on deregulation by the federal government. The panel highlighted the current administration's well-publicized 10-to-1 deregulation approach. For those unfamiliar, the President signed an executive order that requires an agency to identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed each time it promulgates a single new rule, regulation or guidance. The panel stated that the methodology in deciding what is actually repealed is unknown, but suspect that deregulation may be a contributor to less enforcement from federal OSHA.
The panel also discussed the government shutdown in 2025 and the slowdown it created on federal OSHA. The panel noted that even...
Kenneth Scott Miller, 48, is charged with a felony count of making a false report to law enforcement. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond. According to an Escambia County ...