Could Ex-Amazon Safety Head be Next OSHA Chief?

Multiple news outlets on Wednesday reported that former Amazon executive Heather MacDougall is among those under consideration to run OSHA.
However, the reports also noted that there is no indication that President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has begun to seriously consider candidates for the role.
According to the reports, MacDougall oversaw workplace health and safety at Amazon, the country’s second-largest private employer, from 2019 to 2022. During that period, Amazon faced criticism from workers, labor advocates and some lawmakers for high injury rates and its coronavirus response in warehouses.
Amazon said in July that the company’s recordable injury rate has improved significantly since 2019.
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Impact inspections of 15 mines conducted by the Mine Safety and Health Administration in October resulted in the agency’s issuing of 286 violations.
Of those 286, 95 were evaluated by inspectors as significant and substantial and 12 had unwarrantable failure findings.
Atalco Gramercy LLC’s Gramercy Operation, an alumina facility in St. James County, Louisiana, was selected for impact inspection because of its enforcement and accident history, as well as several hazard complaints.
That inspection “identified the continued existence of a troubling culture and repeated hazards that demonstrate a disregard for the safety and health of miners,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson.
Gramercy Operation is one of two mines currently operating under a pattern of violations notice, one of MSHA’s toughest enforcement actions.
Other cited mines were in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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The National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety has launched an online dashboard that tracks what it said is one comprehensive resource for understanding the current state of hospital workforce and patient safety.
Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the dashboard aggregates hospital safety data from four primary measurement sources.
The dashboard is part of HHS’s Health Workforce Initiative that seeks to bring together the various areas across the agency that are focused on workforce issues, to help maximize the impact of their efforts, according to the announcement.
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The Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) this week published a final rule that allows the use of eight voluntary consensus standards approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for electric mining equipment approvals.
The agency sees the move as providing more flexibility to product designers and manufacturers seeking approval for electrical equipment used in gassy mines, which will expand the use of innovative and advanced technologies in US mines, according to the notice in the Federal Register.
The final rule allows product manufacturers and designers seeking MSHA approval to follow either the ANSI-approved voluntary consensus standards or the existing MSHA-specific technical requirements.
This updates the Labor Department agency’s testing, evaluation, and approval requirements for electric motor-driven mine equipment and accessories (such as longwall mining systems and portable oxygen detectors) intended for use in gassy mines where hazardous atmospheres can pose fire or explosion risks.
The final rule will take effect on January 9, 2025.
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