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ARTICLE · 09 DECEMBER 2024

Radical Change At OSHA During Second Trump Administration?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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Seyfarth Synopsis: With another dramatic reversal from a pro-labor Democratic administration to a second Trump administration, we anticipate that OSHA...

United StatesEmployment and HR
Matthew A. Sloan
Matthew A. Sloan
Daniel R. Birnbaum
Daniel R. Birnbaum
Adam Young
Adam Young
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Seyfarth Synopsis: With another dramatic reversal from a pro-labor Democratic administration to a second Trump administration, we anticipate that OSHA is likely to pivot away from its current enforcement-heavy agenda to a greater emphasis on cooperation with the business community.

As we try to anticipate the shifts of a second Trump administration, supported by a Republican-controlled Congress (albeit with very slim margins), these are some of our projections on what the future may hold for employers on the OSHA front during the coming second Trump Administration.

From the first Trump Administration, we know that the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors and OSHA inspections dropped significantly. During the Obama Administration (2008-2016), the number of OSHA inspectors fluctuated but generally stayed above 900, rising to 1,059 inspectors from 2009 to 2011, then declining to 943 from 2011 to 2015, then rising again in 2016 to

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