President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2025. Since then, there has been a swirl of speculation over the role that administrative agencies will play in this new administration. The fate of two OSHA standards, proposed during the Biden administration, is now in the hands of the new administration. This article discusses these OSHA standards.
OSHA Standards: Regulatory Freeze is in Place
On the first day of his second term, President Trump ordered a regulatory freeze applicable to all executive departments and agencies. The freeze directs executive departments and agencies to not propose or issue any rule in any manner, until a department or agency leader appointed or designated by the President has reviewed and approved the rule. Therefore, it is not anticipated that the Department of Labor, of which OSHA is a part, will propose or finalize any OSHA standards right now.
The executive order also directs agencies to consider postponing, for 60 days (that is, through March 21, 2025), any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued in any manner but have not taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.
In 2024, the Biden Administration proposed two OSHA standards that have not yet been finalized. These are the Heat Safety Rule, and the Emergency Response Rule. Their fate is subject to the executive order.
OSHA Standards: Heat Safety Rule
In July of 2024, the Department of Labor proposed an OSHA standard, Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.
Under this proposed OSHA standard, which would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction, employers would be required to (among other things):
- Develop and implement a worksite heat injury and illness prevention plan (HIIPP) with site-specific information to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace.
- Identify heat hazards in both outdoor and indoor work sites.
- For outdoor work sites, employers would be required to monitor heat conditions by tracking local heat index forecasts or measuring heat index or wet bulb globe temperature.
- For indoor work sites, employers would be required to identify work areas with the potential for hazardous heat exposure, develop and implement a monitoring plan, and seek employee input.
OSHA Standards: The Emergency Response Rule
In February of 2024, the Department of Labor proposed an OSHA standard, the Emergency Response Standard. This proposed standard expands the scope of OSHA’s existing Fire Brigade Standard, which regulates interior structural firefighting services by requiring training, personal protective equipment, and firefighting equipment of fire brigade members who perform interior structural firefighting.
The proposed Emergency Response Standard applies the fire brigade standard’s training and equipment requirements to other groups involved in providing emergency services. These groups include firefighters, emergency medical services, tactical rescue teams, and the equivalent services offered in workplaces by employer-provided (e.g., private) services. Airport crash rescue and forest firefighting operations are just two of the operations that would be covered under the proposed standard.
OSHA Standards: Will the Proposed OSHA Standards be Finalized?
In line with the executive order, it is expected that the Trump administration will review the proposed OSHA standards, both the Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings proposed standard, and the proposed Emergency Response Standard, to determine whether to finalize these proposed OSHA standards, modify these proposed OSHA standards, or withdraw these proposed OSHA standards.
The current anti-regulatory climate is exemplified by proposed legislation known as the NOSHA Act. Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona has proposed the “NOSHA Act,” short for Nullify Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act. The proposed legislation seeks to abolish OSHA. Representative Biggs introduced the same measure during the last Congressional term. It got nowhere. The chances of the legislation being passed this time are extraordinarily slim (some would say zero). There is, though, a distinct possibility that the Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings standard and the Emergency Response Standard, will not be finalized, will be pared down, or will be withdrawn.
Compliance Software Helps You Manage OSHA Standards Compliance
Healthcare practices can greatly benefit from compliance software that contains policies and procedures, employee training, forms, and template plans, designed to assist them with meeting key OSHA compliance requirements, including the personal protective equipment standard and the bloodborne pathogens standard.
Compliancy Group’s OSHA workplace safety solution has all of these features. And, our software provides you with tools to assess and remediate workplace safety risk, to log and monitor safety incidents, and to remind you when it’s time to train or retrain your employees on key workforce safety topics.
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