Keeling Confirmed to Head OSHA, Palmer at MSHA

• The Senate on Friday confirmed David Keeling as the new leader of OSHA. He had been nominated by President Donald Trump on Feb. 12, 2025.
• Most recently, he served as Director of Global Road and Transportation Safety at Amazon from July 2021 to May 2023.
• During his confirmation hearing, Keeling outlined his goals for OSHA, including: modernizing regulatory oversight and rulemaking; increasing OSHA’s cooperation and collaboration efforts; and, using data to enhance onsite safety efforts through predictive analytics.=
• The chamber also confirmed Wayne Palmer as Assistant Secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
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Perception Gap Identified Between Safety Leaders and Rank-and-File

• Nearly a third of workers who suffer from pain at work don’t report it, as their safety leaders consistently rate workplace culture more positively than employees do, according to new research from the National Safety Council.
• The research from Frontline Worker Perspectives on Musculoskeletal Disorder Prevention, based on survey data from 1,000 non-managerial workers across diverse industries, reveals significant disconnects between management perceptions and worker experiences in MSD prevention efforts.
• “These findings offer a powerful reminder that safety cannot be achieved without the voice of those doing the work every day,” said Paige DeBaylo, PhD, director MSD Solutions Lab at NSC. “When we engage frontline workers meaningfully, we unlock new opportunities to reduce injuries, foster trust and improve organizational safety culture.”
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Ogletree Podcast Assesses OSHA Compliance Gaps, Enforcement Risks for Multi-Jurisdictional Employers

• The latest podcast from Ogletree Deakins’ Safety Basics series discusses key compliance insights state plans versus Federal OSHA.
• Considering divergent safety standards, the core takeaway for businesses is that OSHA compliance is not monolithic; the 25-minute episode breaks down the critical differences between state-level occupational safety and health plans and baseline federal OSHA regulations.
• The firm’s John Surma and Karen Tynan detail the formal mechanisms for how state-based safety programs are approved and continually monitored by federal authorities, providing insight into the checks and balances governing these parallel systems.
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