There was a time when presidential candidates put out position papers on their plans for various agencies. Over the last ten years, Congress has worked to take the politics out of agencies. That has not always worked. The IRS and Veterans Administration agencies ran amuck and became political under the Obama administration. Generally, the days of a Democrat OSHA handing over the rule books to be recast as a Republican OSHA are over.
The agencies fought this battle for years and for the most part, they have won. Congress does not want to hear complaints from constituents about an OSHA problem. Now they can honestly say, my hands are tied. There isn’t anything I can do. This was an internal battle most of Congress wanted to lose. In the case of a President, they do have authority because they appoint the people that will head and direct OSHA and other agencies. But even Presidents have bigger fish to fry than reshaping minor agencies.
We are left to wonder what Trump might do. This was the first Presidential Election I have followed that did not have safety journals writing feature articles about how OSHA would change under President Trump. There was none of that because apparently no one thought he had a chance of winning. Suffice it to say most would have projected an “Armageddon”. But that says a lot more about the political agenda of those who write safety journals than it does about Trump. I do not share that “left leaning ideology” and I welcome whatever new management ends up heading the agency.
I have some opinions. Trump will not be anti-OSHA. Trump comes out of the industrial and commercial construction industry. He has a long and close history working with OSHA. Trump has far more experience working under OSHA regulations than anyone ever elected President. I know Trump maintained a good working relationship with New York unions over the years and that would mean he also got along with OSHA.
OSHA in the “construction industry” or “healthcare” is a different category than “general industry”. My guess is the people Trump brings into OSHA might make some changes in how OSHA regulates construction. They will probably simplify it but keep it just as effective. I don’t think they are going to take safety regulations for the service sector very seriously. The funeral business is part of the “service sector”. We are joined in that group by banks, real estate and insurance offices, travel offices and similar businesses that have very little safety risks.
The records OSHA maintains proves this. The “service sector” is on the bottom in the accident frequency statistics. There may not be any written rule changes but I have a gut feeling that the service sector will not be a target of OSHA inspectors in this administration. As I see it, that is a good thing. For years, OSHA used statistics from the service sector to prove falsehoods. They could show that the overall injury rate had fallen. They would take a bow and ask for more money to continue their good work. The truth is, as OSHA expanded to take in the service sector, the rate dropped because there were very few accidents coming from this sector. It never changed the fact that working on a crane was just as dangerous as before.
If they should deemphasize regulations and enforcement in the service sector, several things will happen. We would make training that could be used for three years, thereby holding compliance plus costs down. I’ve been changing the training for formaldehyde for 25 years and in that time-period, we had one significant change in the formaldehyde standard. It does get ridiculous. Not many funeral home workers chose this career because they love working with regulations. My guess is that we will have either less of them at the least, less enforcement of them. Time will tell.