Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1538938
OSHA CONT. Take the pulse of the pallet market. Download our exclusive pallet market survey. Our exclusive pallet market survey has the pallet marketplace data and insights you need to gain a competitive edge in an ever-changing market. Collected from industry leaders, it's an invaluable, information-rich resource. Scan the code, download the survey for free today. Adele Abrams, Esq., ASP, CMSP, is Senior Counsel in the Washington, DC, office of Li ler Mendelson PC, where she is part of the firm's Occupa onal Safety and Health group and leads the na onal MSHA prac ce. Adele provides OSHA/MSHA case representa on, training, and consulta ve services on safety and employment law. She can be reached at safetylawyer@gmail.com or 301-613-7498. Additionally, the updated policy expands the penalty reduction for employers without a history of serious, willful, repeat, or failure- to-abate OSHA violations. Under OSHA's revised policy, employers who have never been inspected by federal OSHA or an OSHA State Plan, as well as employers who have been inspected in the previous five years and had no serious, willful, or failure-to-abate violations, are eligible for a 20% penalty reduction. e new penalty policies are already in effect! Penalties issued before July 14, 2025, will remain under the previous penalty structure; however, this new policy is certainly worth mentioning in conference when seeking a penalty reduction. Open investigations in which penalties have not yet been issued are covered by the new guidance. OSHA can withhold penalty reductions if the penalty adjustments do not advance the agency's goals, so the changes remain discretionary. Also watch for a huge budget battle, as the Senate has voted to preserve OSHA funding at current levels while the House has proposed major reductions. Regarding NIOSH and the DOGE proposal to essentially eliminate the agency, the report states that "[t]he Committee recognizes that NIOSH is the only Federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related illness and injury" and "directs CDC to ensure work continues in NIOSH research centers nationwide." While the bill does not mention OSHA's progress on a workplace heat standard, the Report urges NIOSH to "research the relationship between heat stress and workplace illnesses and injuries and to identify means for more accurate data collection." Stay tuned; more changes are likely to come once a new leader takes the helm of OSHA.