Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1194984
s we flip the calendar page and begin a new year, it is a good time to consider what may lie ahead in the occupa- tional safety and health arena. This is, of course, an election year – or "silly season" as it is known in our nation's capital. From a legislative perspective, this often means that little gets done as all members of the House who haven't retired are running for reelection, along with about one-third of the U.S. Senators. The partisanship that has exemplified the 2019 session of Congress will no doubt continue, although there are a few surprising issues that may draw bipartisan support, including codification of OSHA's voluntary protection program and legalization of marijuana. Most OSHA-related legislation – from the evergreen "Protecting America's Workers Act" (with its heightened criminal penalties) to measures that would force OSHA to address workplace violence and heat stress through new regulations, are likely doomed to failure despite hearings and approval in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. At this time, no FY2020 appropriations bill had been enacted by Congress for the U.S. Department of Labor (the fiscal year started October 1, 2019). Another government shutdown – or funding at 2019 levels via a continuing resolution – remain real possibilities. During the previous holiday shutdown of 2018/2019, OSHA was not affected due to passage of its own appropriations bill prior to the closure. This will not be the case for the impend- ing spending showdown, and with inspector levels at their lowest point since the agency was formed in 1970, frustrated members of Congress noted in their funding report that most employers would be inspected only once every 165 years. For those OSHA does visit, however, maximum penalties are now at $132,598, with another hike expected in January 2020. The leadership at the U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA has also been on a rocky path since the 2017 change in adminis- tration. The first Labor Secretary, Alex Acosta, was forced to resign over his involvement in the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein in early 2019, but until that point, he had focused primarily on employment law issues, rather than changes to OSHA or its regulations. President Trump's pick to head OSHA also was thwarted, as Scott Mugno (former FedEx safety officer) withdrew his nomination in 2019, just days before a full Senate confirmation vote was scheduled. No successor has been named. On September 26th, the Senate confirmed Eugene Scalia as the 33rd Secretary of Labor, replacing former Secretary Acosta. Secretary Scalia, son of the late Supreme Justice Anton Scalia, 24 PalletCentral • November-December 2019 palletcentral.com A SAFETY By Adele L. Abrams, Esq., CMSP OSHA 2020 Vision iStockphoto.com/ndoeljindoel