OSHA News October 2025

OSHA News for October 2025 Hello, It was non stop legal this month. An 8 hour Deposition and two reports covering cases of thousands of pages were highlights this month. Another tough deposition awaits this month. The Facebook algorithm banned me saying I violated terms of service. I moved everything to Linked in and YouTube. Safety really belonged on LinkedIn. I have been able to bring 5000 of my Facebook safety professionals to LinkedIn now. I finished a great ASP/CSP prep class over 5 days for Amazon in October.. They will have over 100 certified safety professionals by the end of 2026. VT rated the top helmets for safety. Milwaukee and others were #1. https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/construction-helmet-ratings.html $32 million slip and fall verdict at Exxon Mobil Joliet. https://101theeagle.com/illinois-truck-driver-injury-lawsuit/ Jonathan Snare joins the OSHA Review commission. He was head of OSHA 20 years ago. Construction security is the ppt for the month. With the price of tools running in the hundreds and copper over $5 a pound, the thefts are tempting for an unguarded construction site. We had 29 get certified in October. Happy Thanksgiving. Moderation! John OSHA News Update 1. David Keeling Confirmed as New OSHA Head David Keeling has been confirmed as the new head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Keeling, a former safety executive at Amazon and UPS, is expected to bring a business-friendly approach, prioritizing cooperation with employers. Under his leadership, experts anticipate the agency will finalize a national heat safety rule, likely in a more flexible format. This shift is also expected to narrow the use of OSHA's "general duty" enforcement clause, a prospect that concerns worker advocates about the agency's ability to hold companies accountable for complex hazards like ergonomics. 2. OSHA Revises Enforcement Manual to Reduce Penalties for Small Businesses On July 14, 2025, Assistant Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling announced significant revisions to OSHA’s Field Operations Manual (FOM), primarily focusing on penalty reductions for small employers. These changes significantly expand eligibility and increase the maximum available penalty cuts: Key Changes to Penalty Reductions • Expanded Small Employer Eligibility: The eligibility threshold for penalty reductions has been substantially raised. For most violations, employers with up to 25 employees are now eligible for up to a 70 percent reduction in penalties. Previously, this reduction was available only to employers with 10 or fewer employees. • Increased Willful Violation Reduction: For the most severe (willful-serious) violations, the penalty reduction can be as high as 80 percent for those with 20 or fewer employees. A sliding scale is available for employers with up to 50 employees. The FOM revisions introduce several new or revised penalty reduction incentives: • Safety and Health Management Systems (SHMS): Small employers can receive up to a 25 percent penalty reduction for demonstrating effective SHMS, even if the system is not fully documented in writing. A 15 percent reduction is available for systems found to have only minor deficiencies. • Clean History: Employers with a clean inspection history over the past five years, or those who have never been inspected, are eligible for a 20 percent reduction. This reduction, however, can be withheld at the area director’s discretion in certain cases, such as recent serious violations. • Immediate Correction: Small employers can receive a 15 percent penalty reduction if they immediately and permanently correct hazards identified during an inspection. This incentive applies to other-than-serious, low-gravity serious, and moderate-gravity serious violations, but it is not available for high-gravity, willful, or repeated Other News 1. Three hurt at JFK airport construction. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/3-hospitalized-jfk-airport-construction-195014862.html 2. Remote workers have less injuries. https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Documents/Remote-Work-and-Workers-Compensation-Frequency.pdf 3. H2S killed the six workers at the dairy farm in August. https://www.foxnews.com/us/coroner-identifies-cause-death-6-who-collapsed-colorado-dairy-farm 4. Concrete collapse in NY hurts four workers. https://pix11.com/news/local-news/construction-workers-fall-through-partially-collapsed-floor-in-brooklyn-officials/ 5. Truck driver electrocuted in IL https://wgntv.com/news/northwest-suburbs/semi-truck-driver-electrocuted-in-mchenry-county-farming-accident/ 6. Worker hurt falling from the scoreboard at the Steeler Stadium. https://abc7chicago.com/post/worker-injured-falling-50-feet-acrisure-stadium-scoreboard-pittsburgh-pennsylvania/18077000/ 7. Boston crane collapses two. https://www.wcvb.com/article/crane-collapse-everett/69149703 8. Worked dies in fall at excavation site. https://abc7ny.com/post/construction-worker-critical-falling-work-site-hudson-yards-nyc/18061681/ 9. Truck Driver in IL killed by train. https://wgntv.com/western-suburbs/crash-involving-train-vehicle-shuts-down-road-in-west-suburbs/ 10. 16 dead in TN explosion https://abcnews.go.com/US/tennessee-explosives-plant-manufacturer-explosion/story?id=126405185 OSHA CITATIONS 6/20/2025 No updates Safety Training at Non-Profits (Check Sites for Starting Dates) OSHA 7205 Health Naperville Nov 17 OSHA 7505 Incident Investigation Nov 18 OSHA 3115 CSC Nov 3-5 OSHA 500 CSC Nov 17-20 OSHA 7215 CSC Nov 12 NIU 4 Hour Fall PRotection Nov 24 NIU is Northern Illinois University OSHA Education Center http://www.nsec.niu.edu CSC is the Construction Safety Council in Hillside. Www.Buildsafe.org TRMA is Three Rivers Manufacturers Association www.trma.org I usually teach only 10-hour and the 500 series. I have taught 2460 people this year. I teach evenings, weekends, and early mornings too. I teach in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Indiana. The PowerPoint is posted free at usmwf.org. https://www.usmwf.org/powerpoints-and-safety-information.html I use your feedback to make changes to make corrections. -- John Newquist 815-354-6853