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March-April 2024

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Adele L. Abrams is an a orney and safety professional who represents companies in li ga on with OSHA and also provides safety training and consulta on. The Law Office of Adele L. Abrams PC has three offices: Beltsville, MD; Denver, CO; and Charleton, WV. She may be reached at safety-law.com or 301-595-3520. Process Management So ware For The Pallet And Timber Industries CALL & SCHEDULE A DEMO TODAY ThePalMateGroup.com | 877.267.8384 Reduce Redundant Entries Produc on Management Inventory Summaries Barcoding Systems Sales Reports And More! GET ACCESS TO REAL-TIME INFORMATION! Remember, OSHA generally will only pay a visit if there is a reportable serious injury or fatality (or they hear of an industrial accident from EMTs or a police scanner); when an employee files a hazard or whistleblower complaint; if the worksite is subject to an inspection for failure to submit electronic data under OSHA's site- specific targeting program; or if it is subject to one of OSHA's national, regional, or local emphasis programs. Currently, OSHA's amputations, heat illness prevention, warehousing, and combustible dust national emphasis programs apply to NAICS 321920. OSHA also has periodically executed Local and Regional programs targeting pallet operations, most recently in the area covering Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. I'm often asked whether OSHA places a bounty on certain sectors and gets to keep the revenue. No, the money from penalties does not go to federal OSHA but goes into the US Treasury. However, OSHA does relay enforcement data to Congress when it undergoes its appropriations cycle annually, and Congress generally asks for injury rates as well. So in a sense, enforcement data and needs identification can result in more funding for the agency—or less. Since OSHA and MSHA funding has been subject to funding via continuing resolutions in recent years, funding has been fairly flat and not influenced significantly by injury or enforcement trends, but that has not always been the case. Depending on the outcome of the 2024 elections, OSHA could have a lot more power and money in the future . . . or it could be redlined out of existence as would occur with GOP legislation (HR 69, the "NOSHA" Act to abolish the agency, sponsored by Rep. Biggs [R-AZ]). More to come!

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