Safety Agencies Show No Signs of Relaxing Enforcement for 2026

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration is set to conduct more targeted inspections of high-hazard industries like construction, manufacturing and warehousing next year, continuing a trend from the Biden administration.

The agency charged with ensuring the safety of the country’s workforce carried out 17,170 programmed inspections in fiscal year 2024, the latest OSHA inspection data available. That’s an 8% increase from the year before, and puts the number of planned inspections on par with ones responding to employee complaints, called unprogrammed inspections.

Employers should prepare for more of these unannounced inspections from OSHA in 2026, even as the Trump administration adopts a business-friendly approach with an emphasis on voluntary compliance programs, workplace safety attorneys say.

“Employers need to play the long game,” said Alana Genderson, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP. “OSHA is placing a lot more emphasis on cooperative programs and working with employers—but OSHA is not dropping the stick just because they’ve added more carrots.”

The two approaches work together to push employers into compliance with agency standards. Enforcement drives demand for compliance assistance as employers fear fines and citations.

Under the Trump administration, OSHA has expanded penalty reductions for smaller employers and prioritized compliance assistance—where the agency helps companies meet work safety requirements—through initiatives such as its opinion letter program that offers guidance on regulations.

Targeted OSHA Enforcement

Programmed inspections are part of OSHA’s national emphasis programs, which target specific, dangerous conditions without requiring the agency to create explicit standards addressing those dangers.

OSHA hasn’t signaled it’ll cancel any NEPs, and is expected to keep targeting conditions like heat and areas such as warehousing in 2026, said Peter Vassalo, senior counsel for Littler Mendelson PC.

Vassalo, who spent nearly 30 years in OSHA’s office of the solicitor, said he does expect a consolidation or reorganization of the personnel in the agency’s national and regional offices in the coming year to better streamline its enforcement operations.

OSHA’s various directorate offices develop national safety standards and policies, while its regional offices implement them, carry out inspections, and enforce compliance while also providing local training and on-site consultations for employers.

Despite broad employer support for OSHA going beyond an NEP to establish a performance-oriented heat rule, the agency isn’t expected to complete one in early 2026.

A significant number of employees in OSHA’s rulemaking unit took the Labor Department’s deferred resignation program, enough to limit the agency’s capacity to finish major regulations, according to Vassalo, who left the DOL and joined Littler in September.

OSHA extended the NEP on outdoor and indoor heat to April 2026. The agency conducted about 7,000 heat-related inspections and issued 60 heat citations for violations of the general duty clause between April 2022 and December 2024.

Comparably, OSHA renewed its NEP for manufacturing in June for five years, looking to reduce hazards leading to amputations and injuries common in the industry.

The agency issued more than 3,600 violations to employers for failing to properly guard machines and provide personal protective equipment for workers in fiscal year 2024. Both remain some of the most frequently cited standards, according to the agency’s own data.

Mine Enforcement

The Mine Safety and Health Administration under the Trump administration has similarly sought to lessen the regulatory burden on coal operators through compliance assistance and voluntary programs.

But unlike OSHA, MSHA is required by law to inspect each underground mine at least four times a year and surface mines twice a year.

The agency issued roughly 39,000 coal mine citations and more than 55,000 metal and nonmetal mine citations in 2024—similar to the previous year.

Mine operators shouldn’t expect a major shift in the agency’s approach to enforcement next year, but they should keep an eye on changes to rules around silica safety standards, according to Arthur Wolfson, a partner at Fisher & Phillips who represents clients in the mining industry.

The administration announced it would replace parts of a Biden-era regulation that are set to require mines to cut respirable silica levels in half.

Wolfson anticipates this move would provoke another challenge under Section 101(a)(9) of the Mine Act, which prevents a reduction in safety by a new standard.

“The new rule will have to be written with an eye toward defending against such a challenge,” he said.

MSHA said it will seek comments on portions of the silica rule currently under legal challenge at the Eighth Circuit by the Sorptive Minerals Institute, an association representing companies that surface mine the absorbent clay used for cat litter and a host of other products.

The case centers on restrictions for how a mine operator can limit its employees’ exposure to silica dust.

A rise in the number of miners with Black Lung and other respiratory diseases prompted the regulation, which would cover more than 200,000 workers.