OSHA and States Diverging on Workplace Safety Rules

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With federal OSHA expected to remain largely inactive on new rulemaking, states are splitting into different directions on workplace safety — some tightening rules on heat, ergonomics, and workplace violence, while others move to roll back protections that exceeded federal minimums, creating a compliance patchwork for multi-state employers.
Attorney Samuel H. Pond notes that “state control” doesn’t necessarily mean stricter enforcement — California, Oregon, and Washington run some of the most active state programs, while Kentucky’s HB 398, passed in March 2025, bars its state plan from enforcing any safety standard stricter than OSHA’s federal floor.
Pond argues that when injury prevention weakens at the regulatory level, the workers’ compensation system absorbs the fallout through more claims, higher premiums, and increased litigation, and advises facilities managers to build safety programs to the strictest standard they operate under rather than the federal minimum, since OSHA violations can still fuel negligence claims and raise insurance costs even though federal fines themselves remain relatively modest.

U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner demanding answers about working conditions at the USPS Detroit Network Distribution Center in Allen Park, Michigan, citing staff reports of denied contractual breaks, inadequate training, intimidation, and safety hazards tied to management pressure for expedited mail processing and staffing reductions.
The facility came under scrutiny after the November 2025 death of Nicholas Acker, 36, who was found stuck in a mail handling machine after emergency responders said he had been there for up to eight hours before firefighters arrived.
In May, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the Postal Service more than $26,000 (reduced from an initial $66,200 after an informal settlement) for failing to conduct required annual conveyor inspections and review workers’ responsibilities, finding employees were exposed to caught-in hazards while the conveyors ran or unexpectedly started.
The lawmakers previously pressed USPS on details of Acker’s death and a related union grievance alleging management pressured staff to search for letters while the handling machine was running. The new letter renews questions about training, fair labor practices, and how staffing shortages and delivery pressure affect worker safety.