'Essential' OSHA Inspections Continue

A Labor Department plan issued last week specifies the “essential” functions of OSHA that will be maintained during a government shutdown.
Those functions include: Inspection of imminent danger situations; Inspection of workplace fatalities and catastrophes; and, Review of whistleblower complaints and subsequent referrals to an appropriate agency of any complaint that identifies a workplace or public safety and/or health condition that poses, or if not referred or acted upon, is reasonably likely to pose, an imminent threat to the safety of human life or the protection of property.
Also continuing will be: Follow-up inspections of establishments with high-gravity, serious violations and no abatement; and, Enforcement activities on open cases needed to meet the Agency’s six-month statutory deadline to issue citations where those cases establish employees are potentially exposed to hazardous conditions that present a high risk of death or serious physical harm.
All other non-essential operations including ongoing rulemaking activities, cooperative programs, and other OSHA agency functions will cease for the duration of the shutdown.
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Three academic institutions in Arizona, Pennsylvania and South Dakota have been awarded a combined $250,00 in Brookwood-Sago grants to support mine safety education.
The recipients of the 2025 grants are: University of Arizona, $80,000; Pennsylvania State University, $50,000; and, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, $120,000.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration gave special emphasis to fund education and training programs focused on workplace safety and health hazards faced where critical materials and other minerals are mined.
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OSHA has issued more than $900,000 in penalties to two companies after worker drowned in April in a Georgia river.
Agency investigators said that on April 7, 2025, Seminole Equipment bridge painters were removing scaffolding from the southbound I-95 bridge on the Ogeechee River when one worker fell into the river and drowned.
The agency concluded that the Tarpon Springs, Florida-based employer failed to ensure employees used fall protection and life jackets while working on the bridge section.
OSHA cited Seminole for five willful and three serious violations and proposed $877,220 in penalties.
The agency also issued two serious violations to The L.C. Whitford Co. Inc., the controlling employer for the site, and proposed a penalty of $26,480.
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The National Fire Protection Association is focusing this year’s Fire Prevention Week programs on lithium ion battery safety.
The campaign, held Oct. 5-11, is aimed at educating people about using these batteries safely, stressing how important it is to buy, charge and recycle safely.
Available program materials include toolkits in English, Spanish and French.
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