palletcentral

4 4 Pallet C e nt ral • Ma rch -Ap r il 2 0 26 OSHA CONT. responsibility for worker safety to AI. Now that Congress is getting involved, expect more money to go into workplace health and safety applications of AI technology and the development of more guidance in this area from OSHA. Speaking of which, the federal government's Fiscal Year 2026 began on October 1, 2025, so nearly a quarter of the fiscal period was over by the time the funding extension through September 30, 2026, was agreed upon in late January 2026. Until then, OSHA was coasting on the continuing resolution that largely preserved FY 2025 funding (pre-Trump administration). In the end, the final OSHA appropriation was down slightly from FY 2025, a 0.5% cut from $632.3 million to $629.3 million. e President had originally requested an 8% overall cut from FY 2025 and a 12.3% reduction in OSHA staff. e House-passed bill from late 2025 also mirrored the President's position, but the higher Senate level prevailed. e biggest changes include a 13% cut in OSHA's Whistleblower Protections budget (OSHA investigates not only OSHA whistleblower cases but also those of the Environmental Protection Administration and the US Department of Transportation). OSHA also saw cuts to its standards and compliance assistance funding, while enforcement remained level but without sufficient inspectors to carry out its mission. A hiring freeze at federal OSHA exacerbates the situation. Even before the personnel cutbacks, OSHA could inspect only one worksite under its jurisdiction every 162 years! Moreover, many senior OSHA employees opted in for the DOGE early out program, further depleting agency resources. Expect OSHA to largely limit its inspections to "imminent danger" and "severe injury" cases and employee complaints (hazard and whistleblower), T R A C K I N G T H E P A L L E T I N D U S T R Y S I N C E 1 9 9 7 Custom Designed for New Pallet Manufacturers, Recyclers & Sawmills HANDHELD, TABLET AND KIOSK SYSTEMS Custom designed software for new pallet manufacturers, recyclers & sawmills TIME AND ATTENDANCE SYSTEMS CLICK-DRAW™ MILL MANAGER™ ERP SYSTEM A.I. VISION SYSTEMS SORTATION AND REPAIR LINE Bar-code Based Tracking Systems Pallet Track ® a division of 48forty Solutions 631.244.0069 x101 pallettrack.com a division of 48forty Solutions

• Cover