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4 2 Pallet C e nt ral • Ma rch -Ap r il 2 0 26 C ongress began 2026 with a bang, focusing on workplace safety and health initiatives and welcoming the new OSHA leadership of the US Department of Labor. At the time of his confirmation, OSHA's new Assistant Secretary of Labor David Keeling outlined three emphasis areas for his tenure at the agency: • Modernization in regulatory oversight and rulemaking: Keeling is eager to use technologies and predictive analytics to move beyond "simple regulatory compliance and post-injury response to injury prevention and informed design," and including the use of existing global industry consensus standards. Keeling spent years working with UPS and Amazon, so warehousing, logistics, and transportation are his personal areas of expertise. • Expanding OSH A's cooperation and collaboration efforts: Keeling specifically embraces OSHA's potential collaboration and cooperation with professional groups, companies, and unions. Part of this involves updating the agency's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) to possibly include mentorship, use of special government employees, and fees for participation. • OSH A's "enforcement transformation": OSHA will work to harness existing data "to greatly enhance on-site safety efforts through predictive analytics." OSHA will also engage "at-risk employers and employees through proactive risk mitigation and reduction programs before a worksite tragedy has taken place or a fatality has occurred." OSHA BY ADELE L. ABRAMS, ESQ., ASP, CMSP OSHA'S NEW LEADERSHIP PRIORITIES AND FUNDING FOR FY 2026

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