OSHA continues to bolster its oversight of industrial facilities through inspections under a 2017 National Emphasis Program (NEP) and data-sharing with EPA enforcement officials, despite the agency's decision to shelve a planned strengthening of its process safety management (PSM) rule, according to industry attorneys.
September 16, 2026
EPA and OSHA, the lead agencies once charged with implementing an Obama-era Executive Order (EO) on improving facility safety after a 2013 disaster, are heeding long-standing industry calls to enforce existing rules while scaling back or shelving new protections advanced under the Obama administration.
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OSHA is bolstering enforcement oversight of trenching and excavation operations after a spike in worker deaths, updating its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on preventing collapses and increasing education and enforcement, though an industry official is bristling at OSHA's continued use of enforcement programs he faults for inflating OSHA penalties.
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Public Citizen is seeking to bolster its push to compel release of employers' worker injury and illness data, arguing that recent OSHA statements undermine the Trump administration's claims in its lawsuit that releasing worker data through public records requests would deter reporting, and that it is unable to detect companies that do not report.
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Despite opposition from industry, OSHA's top enforcement official is reiterating warnings to industry representatives to be ready for “lots of inspections,” a stance that officials have previously touted but one that is at odds with the Trump administration's general efforts to curb regulation and enhance compliance.
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Industry attorneys are arguing that OSHA enforcement has risen during the Trump administration as the lack of a confirmed political leader has left career staff wielding greater influence over the agency's enforcement approach, and pushing back against labor groups' assertions that agency enforcement is declining at an “accelerated pace.”
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An appellate court has upheld a lower court’s ruling limiting OSHA's authority to expand a facility inspection beyond the circumstances of a reported incident, faulting the agency's assertions that facility hazards and injury reports support “reasonable suspicion” of violations, though one panelist offered support for the agency's stance.
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The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), which advocates for strict public health and environment rules, is urging OSHA to craft new standards to protect workers from hazards they face when responding to disasters such as hurricanes, including new protections from ergonomic risks and heat stress, and greater enforcement during disaster responses.
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Public Citizen is defending its request for a federal court to grant a preliminary injunction compelling the Trump administration to implement delayed requirements of an Obama-era worker injury and illness reporting rule, arguing that it meets the grounds for relief because it is harmed by the delay and is likely to succeed in the litigation.
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Former OSHA officials are pointing to the Labor Department Office of Inspector General's (OIG) recent finding that half of all severe injuries go unreported as evidence that the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda is weakening OSHA oversight, blaming the repeal of an Obama-era record-keeping rule for under-reporting of severe injuries.
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