{"id":14116,"date":"2026-07-15T14:21:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=14116"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:22:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:22:42","slug":"dispatches-from-the-front-lines-of-workplace-safety-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/07\/15\/dispatches-from-the-front-lines-of-workplace-safety-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispatches From the Front Lines of Workplace Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

L<\/span>ots happening in the world of workplace safety and labor. Nevada lawmakers oppose weakening OSHA enforcement, Boston workers get more heat protection, Elon kills more workers, Trump wants to make America great by again sacrificing the lives of nuclear workers.\u00a0 And lots more…..<\/p>\n

Nevada Lawmakers to OSHA Penalty Decreases: “No Thanks!”<\/h2>\n

Around a year ago, OSHA announced<\/a> several new policies that would lower penalties for small employers, employers without a history of serious, willful, repeat, or failure-to-abate OSHA violations and others \u201cin an effort to minimize the burden on small businesses and increase prompt hazard abatement.\u201d\u00a0 State plan states are required to have OSHA programs — including enforcement– that are “at least as effective as” the federal program. But they can also be more<\/em> effective.<\/p>\n

Nevada legislators have balked on adopting OSHA’s new penalty policies<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Nevada Legislative Commission, which gives final approval to regulations drafted by state agencies, did not vote on a proposal by the Division of Industrial Relations to align the state\u2019s penalty structure with a more lax penalty structure adopted by the federal government last year. Instead, the lawmakers deferred the proposed regulation to a future meeting.<\/p>\n

The deferral came after two Democrats, state Sens. Skip Daly and Rochelle Nguyen, said they believe lowering penalty amounts for employers in violation of occupational safety standards would not benefit workers. The 12-member commission is composed of eight Democrats and four Republicans.<\/p>\n

Republicans did not agree:<\/p>\n

State Sen. Ira Hansen, a Republican who owns a plumbing company, said businesses sometimes find themselves facing a minimum $25,000 OSHA fine \u201cfor a relatively minor thing.\u201d He argued allowing reductions for small businesses that are doing their best is reasonable.<\/p>\n

A $25,000 penalty “for a relatively minor thing?” Maybe, but I doubt it. Every time David Michaels or I would testify before Congress, a Republican would inevitably tell a horror story about a small business friend of his who had been fined $100,000 or so for some stupid violation like a staircase railing that was an inch too low. We would express concern and promise to look into it. But inevitably, when we got back to the Congressperson’s office for more details so we could investigate atrocity, they never came up with any information.<\/p>\n

Unions supported the refusal to lower penalties:<\/p>\n

Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada Chief of Staff Wendy Colborne told lawmakers that, in 2024, Nevada workers suffered \u201ctens of thousands of job injuries that were serious enough to be reported\u201d and \u201c21,000 were serious enough to keep them off the job or on restricted duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBehind every one of those numbers is a worker,\u201d she continued. \u201cA father, a mother, a son, a daughter, who went to work and didn\u2019t come home the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our experience, it\u2019s these fines that force them to make changes and avoid these problems on the job site,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Elon. Again.<\/h2>\n

We’ve written numerous times about how Elon Musk, master of the universe<\/a> and the world’s first trillionaire, doesn’t put much weight on protecting workers from injuries and death in his various companies.\u00a0 All the way back ten years ago ignoring OSHA standards protecting his Tesla workers<\/a>, forgetting to record injuries<\/a> and how a phone call to the Nevada Governor’s office inexplicably made several willful violations disappear<\/a> from Nevada OSHA. (But don’t worry, federal OSHA says nothing to see there<\/a>, move along….)\u00a0 And who can forget the book-burning at OSHA and destruction of NIOSH (most of which has been restored.)<\/p>\n

And then there was the time Elon said he’d make his Tesla facility safe if workers would just give up their organizing campaign<\/a>. Sounds fair.<\/p>\n

Most recently Gaige Davilla writes in The Texas Observer<\/a> about various serious injuries and fatalities at SpaceX\u2019s Starbase in Texas and how the company had an injury rate that\u2019s more than five times the national average for comparable space vehicle manufacturing facilities in the United States.\u00a0 This follows excellent reporting from Reuter’s correspondent Marisa Taylor about workplace safety and health problems at SpaceX<\/a> a few years ago.<\/p>\n

OSHA has cited<\/a> Elon’s companies before, but he generally contests those citations he can’t disappear.<\/p>\n

Because we know that OSHA penalties are onerous and are destroying jobs and the American economy. But in case you were wondering, $1 trillion would fund OSHA for a million and a half years at its current budget level. Just saying….<\/p>\n

Less Heat: Boston<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Following closely on New York City’s heels, the city of Boston has passed an ordinance<\/a> to protect “all employees working for the City of Boston or under City of Boston contracts, leases, and licenses” from heat hazards. The ordinance calls for City of Boston departments whose employees perform work in a setting at risk of causing Heat Illness to develop and implement a Heat Illness Prevention Plan that will provide shade, rest, and water, an emergency response plans and training.<\/p>\n

Contractors and Subcontractors must provide a Heat Illness Prevention Plan Affidavit and make available to their employees information on the requirements of the heat program and how to submit complaint if their employer is not providing the required protections.\u00a0 If a contractor fails to comply with the ordinance after a warning by the city, they may be fined up to $100 per day, face termination of their\u00a0 contract and\/or be ineligible for future contracts with the City.<\/p>\n

More Radiation for Nuclear Plant Workers<\/h2>\n

The Trump administration has decided that worker exposure to radiation isn’t really that bad.\u00a0 According to the Washington Post<\/a>, “Workers at nuclear power plants could be exposed to higher levels of radiation under a proposal by the federal nuclear regulator to loosen safety limits.” The proposed rule \u00a0would end a requirement that plants limit workers\u2019 radiation exposure to \u201cas low as reasonably achievable\u201d<\/p>\n

Why? Is there new science that radiation isn’t that bad? No. “The commission said in a statement Wednesday that the rule is an \u201cunnecessary regulatory burden\u201d that does not ‘reflect current science and decades of operation experience.'” The proposed rule follows an executive order<\/a> signed by Trump in May 2025 that attacked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as overly focused on \u201cinsulating Americans from the most remote risks without regard for the domestic or geopolitical costs of its risk aversion.\u201d Which means we’re going back to the good old Cold War days of sacrificing workers for “national security.” The once-independent NRC is now required to route its decisions through the White House for approval before issuing final rulings.<\/p>\n

What if Union Density Tripled?<\/h2>\n

Union membership in the U.S. ticked up in 2025, breaking a decades-long trend of declining unionization.\u00a0 But we need more organized workers. Far more. The Economic Policy Institute has issued a report<\/a> documenting the benefits to the American economy and society if union membership reached 30% as it was in the 1950s, instead of the 10% today. To summarize, significant increases in workers’ incomes, less inequality, narrower racial wage gaps, more people with health insurance, stronger communities and a stronger democracy. As former Labor Secretary Robert Reich writes in the introduction, “That\u2019s because when workers have bargaining power, they win better wages, benefits, and working conditions.” Read the full report<\/a> for all the details.<\/p>\n

OSHA Training Grants<\/h2>\n

OSHA has announced<\/a> the availability of $12.7 million in\u00a0Susan Harwood Training Grants<\/a>\u00a0 for nonprofit organizations, many public or state colleges and universities, labor unions, employer associations, joint labor-management associations, Indian tribes, OSHA On-Site Consultation entities, and OSHA Training Institute Education Centers. The only OSHA training program directly focused exclusively on workers, Republican administrations have attempted every year since 2001 to abolish the program. There are two types of grants: \u2013 Targeted Topic Training<\/strong>: Support educational programs that identify and prevent workplace hazards and require applicants to conduct training on OSHA-designated workplace safety and health hazards, and Training and Educational Materials Development<\/strong>: Support the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards. The application deadline is midnight, July 31.<\/p>\n

OSHA Enforcement News<\/h2>\n

A few interesting citations issued by OSHA.<\/p>\n