Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1525790
Pallet C e nt ral • S e ptem be r- O ctobe r 2 0 24 37 expanded. Current programs impacting the pallet sector include Combustible Dust, Fall Prevention for general industry, and amputation prevention/ Lockout-Tagout. OSHA also has an ongoing heat illness prevention NEP. What will happen to OSHA under a Trump/Vance administration? It's very existence could be threatened. is year, Republican Congressman Andy Biggs introduced HR 69—the "NOSHA Act"—which would rescind the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act (which created OSHA and NIOSH) and abolish the agencies. States could still be free to run their own programs, but with the elimination of a federal agency, employers would be faced with a crazy quilt of new state rules, likely in conflict with each other as we currently have with the state-based heat standards, and some states would eliminate worker protections entirely (see, e.g., Florida and Texas banning cities and counties from enacting worker heat protections). e Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 document also calls for major cuts to federal agencies and personnel, and OSHA is in its crosshairs. Whether that would be the game plan put into motion in a Republican administration that has congressional backing remains to be seen, but at a minimum, there are already calls to strip OSHA of much of its funding in the proposed F Y 2025 appropriations bill. And Democratics in Congress note that with current staffing and funds, OSHA can only inspect each worksite under its jurisdiction once every 182 years! But if they do show up, the maximum penalties per citation are over $161,000 and will rise again in 2025. What about the third branch of government: the Judiciary? As we all have witnessed, elections have consequences and the three conservative justices appointed by President Trump to SCOTUS during his time in office have made all the difference in major rulings impacting personal rights, immigration, campaign laws, and ultimately the right of the president to commit crimes without being held liable under the theory of immunity for "official acts."