Michigan Legislators Told MIOSHA Penalties Must Increase
- Michigan must increase its maximum penalties for citations issued by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) or it could lose jurisdiction of oversight to the federal government, state senators were told Thursday.
- The Senate Labor Committee taking up two bills for testimony only that would align MIOSHA with the federal OSHA’s maximum penalties.
- Michigan is one of six states that have not yet adopted the federal OSHA maximum penalties, originally set in 2016.
- “Since then, Michigan has received audit findings and a warning that failure to update our statute to match federal amounts may result in U.S. OSHA taking over jurisdiction in Michigan,” MIOSHA Director Bart Pickelman told the state senators.
- “MIOSHA penalties are not designed to be punitive,” Pickelman said. “It’s very difficult to put the price on someone’s life.”
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Illinois Moves to Replace OSHA Standard if Federal Standard Nixed
- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed into law the “Workers’ Rights and Worker Safety Act,” which provides a state-level backstop in case the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standard is revoked, repealed, or amended to become less effective .
- The law specifies that in order to provide “safe and healthful employment and places of employment,” the Illinois Department of Labor “shall, as soon as practical … adopt a standard that incorporates the federal occupational health or safety standard as it existed prior to being repealed, revoked, amended, or newly interpreted.”
- The act is among a slew of new laws signed and set to take effect in 2026.
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NSC Offers New $300K Round of Research Grants
- The National Safety Council (NSC) will offer a fourth round of Research to Solutions (R2S) and MSD Solutions pilot grants, totaling up to $300,000 in funding.
- The R2S grants award up to $50,000 per approved project, with a total of $200,000 available.
- The grant program is open to academic institutions, businesses, and industries seeking to innovate new solutions for MSD risk reduction.
- Proposals should focus on topics like emerging technologies, non-physical risk assessment and mitigation, and high-risk task solutions.
- The MSD Solutions pilot grant awards up to $20,000 per approved project, with a total of $100,000 available.
- Recipients of this next cycle will be announced in June 2026.
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