OSHA 2026: What’s Changing, What’s Coming, and Where Enforcement Is Headed

Show Notes

OSHA has a new leader, a new poster, and a very clear inspection strategy for 2026. Are you ready?

In this quarterly OSHA update, Sheldon breaks down the biggest changes safety professionals and consultants need to know — from the new “OSHA Cares” poster to federal enforcement reductions and the 24,929 inspections planned for the year.

You’ll learn:

• What the new OSHA poster means for employers
• Who the new head of OSHA is and why it matters
• Where enforcement dollars are shrinking (and where focus is tightening)
• Why 70–80% of inspections will be unprogrammed
• The four hazards that will dominate construction inspections

If you're a consultant, safety manager, or building your own safety business, this episode helps you anticipate where OSHA is headed — so you can position yourself (and your clients) ahead of the curve.

Stay proactive. Stay strategic. Stay inspection-ready.

What is The Safety Consultant Podcast?

The Safety Consultant Podcast with Sheldon Primus is your ultimate weekly guide to starting or growing a profitable occupational safety and health consulting business. Are you ready to be your own boss and make a greater impact? Your expertise can help more people create safer workplaces, and your skills deserve a platform where they can truly shine. If you feel limited in your current role and believe your knowledge could serve the broader workforce more effectively, this podcast is for you. Join us as we explore the steps to launch your own safety consulting business, share insights on navigating the industry, and provide strategies to maximize your impact on workplace health and safety. Now is the perfect time to take control of your career and make a difference!

[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to the Safety Consultant Show with Sheldon primus, where we blend safety sparks with business brilliance and the pitch of Sheldon's signature wit, whether you're a safety pro of fresh face consultant, or just safety curious, get ready for a show that will educate, entertain and elevate your safety game.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's dive into the art of consulting with your safety shirt for himself, Sheldon primus.

[SPEAKER_02]: This episode is powered by Safety FM.

[SPEAKER_03]: We're right gang, welcome back to the Safety Consultant Podcast.

[SPEAKER_03]: I am your host, Sheldon Primus.

[SPEAKER_03]: The podcast where I teach you the business of being a safety consultant.

[SPEAKER_03]: We talked about OSHA Compliance, which we'll do today.

[SPEAKER_03]: And we talked about all bunch of other things.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, we also have guests and all that stuff, you know, that's what we do.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, I'm not going to do an intro today because today I just want to get us right to what our actual episode will be and the episode for today I want us to start.

[SPEAKER_03]: I'm gonna go back, I should say I'm not gonna start anything, we're gonna go back to me.

[SPEAKER_03]: Every year I would do like a OSHA update and actually I would do almost quarterly update.

[SPEAKER_03]: Haven't done it in a little while, so I'm gonna kind of go back to that one.

[SPEAKER_03]: Where am I going to tell you guys a little bit about what's happening with OSHA currently?

[SPEAKER_03]: I am going to pull up my web page and I'm going to be looking at two things.

[SPEAKER_03]: One is the OSHA website.

[SPEAKER_03]: One is the budget that was approved so I'm going to do that.

[SPEAKER_03]: You guys aren't going to be able to see it if you're in the podcast but you guys that are watching me.

[SPEAKER_03]: You're going to see that I'm looking over to my little left arm because we're my right

[SPEAKER_03]: That's me looking at the screen.

[SPEAKER_03]: I wish I had an option of showing you and sharing my screen, but I actually do not on this program.

[SPEAKER_03]: So that's telling me I'm probably going to use another program for doing this.

[SPEAKER_03]: But let's go ahead and do this right now.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, I'm going to start with the OSHA website.

[SPEAKER_03]: If you got to OSHA.gov, you're going to see right on the home screen that OSHA has changed

[SPEAKER_03]: There used to be a it's the law poster now.

[SPEAKER_03]: It says OSHA CARES.

[SPEAKER_03]: So that's the OSHA CARES poster which is going to replace the it's the law poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is the one that you have to have in your place of employment, your workers need to see this one.

[SPEAKER_03]: So I am going to go to OSHA.gov

[SPEAKER_03]: post you.gov for slash publications, and then you're going to be looking for oh yeah for slash poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: And that's going to get you the poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: If you're driving, you're not doing this one to stop lights or anything like that.

[SPEAKER_03]: You're waiting until you get home.

[SPEAKER_03]: Listen to this episode all the way through and then we listen to it when you get home.

[SPEAKER_03]: All right?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a bad news if you were to do that.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, what we're going to do right now, I'm going to pull up the ocean poster, and they have two modes, portrait mode and everything else.

[SPEAKER_03]: What it is.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I'll tell you right away, and I know the big fan of this.

[SPEAKER_03]: So they kind of, they combined almost the information for the poster, not even, I can't even give it that much.

[SPEAKER_03]: What they did is they only put the employees' rights.

[SPEAKER_03]: They took away the employer's responsibility.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's a big part of the poster and what's up there.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's great that OSHA puts on the employee's rights and say for a place to speak up with that retaliation, report injuries and illnesses, training in a manner you understand, that's big one.

[SPEAKER_03]: You know, provide required safety equipment, request an ocean inspection or speak to an inspector, file a complaint with OSHO, about workplace hazards, free safety and compliance assistance from OSHO at any time that you go home safe.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's their big thing, and there's a QR code on there, that OSHO has there too.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, I honestly don't know what that QR code goes to.

[SPEAKER_03]: Those of you that are watching me on the YouTube channel, um, if you have not, subscribe yet, please do go to youtube.com, uh, for slash, I believe the at symbol and then safety consulted.

[SPEAKER_03]: And that's where you're going to get me.

[SPEAKER_03]: So you guys are going to see me.

[SPEAKER_03]: On the screen, getting my phone and the QR code goes to OSHA's, workers' rights and protection page.

[SPEAKER_03]: And it just goes to know your rights, how to follow the plane, and it gives you links for that, gives you a link for the state plan.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I'll frequently ask questions, even has a link for PSA videos and the publication itself.

[SPEAKER_03]: So it's kind of like an updated about us page.

[SPEAKER_03]: But it looks like it is OSHA worker's right page.

[SPEAKER_03]: So that's what that QR code is going to do.

[SPEAKER_03]: But again,

[SPEAKER_03]: It is very big that it's missing the employer responsibility part because the employer is really need to understand what their responsibility is related to worker safety as well.

[SPEAKER_03]: So

[SPEAKER_03]: I'm just disappointed in this new poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's flashy with bold colors and everything.

[SPEAKER_03]: They are ancient blue.

[SPEAKER_03]: There's like a real wave like feature to it with the graphics.

[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, it's good graphics, I guess, but the information about the employer was really important.

[SPEAKER_03]: So what I would like you to do on your own is there's also on their main page, the states, they actually have their own OSHA posters.

[SPEAKER_03]: So you might want to just check out some of the states to see what I mean about the things that should be incorporated into the poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I actually, currently I'm in Washington State and I clicked on there is just a take a good look.

[SPEAKER_03]: And like there's this English and Spanish left side has the employees' rights right side of the poster has the employer's responsibility.

[SPEAKER_03]: There's a load of information on this.

[SPEAKER_03]: They also give you a QR code on the bottom of that.

[SPEAKER_03]: So I guess this is consistent with the federal OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: Next episode I will go ahead and share my screen when I use another system, but the one from watching the state goes to forms and publications search.

[SPEAKER_03]: So they're basically taking it to the search page so that you can download the poster from their publication section.

[SPEAKER_03]: But they honestly give you a whole bunch of information and it's also an English and Spanish on the same page.

[SPEAKER_03]: So I would encourage you guys to, especially if you're in a state plan, you're going to have to post your states poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: So you're going to see that on OSHA.gov for slash publications for slash poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: On that page down there, one of the Bullets says state version of this poster.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, that's one thing about OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: The other thing that I did not mention that it's been a while OSHA does have a new head, so we're going to go ahead and introduce you guys to OSHA's head.

[SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to the about page on the OSHA website.

[SPEAKER_03]: There is an organizational chart that you could click on, and once you get to that organizational chart,

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you'll see basically everybody that's set up, but David Keeling is going to be the new head of OSHA, and it looks like he was nominated last year.

[SPEAKER_03]: and confirmed in October, so it took a little while for the confirmation, and then there was the government shut down, so that took a little bit of time before he got into the office, but it looks like the prior to his appointment Mr. Keeling served as vice president of global health and safety at UPS, where he successfully implemented in the lead, broad health and safety

[SPEAKER_03]: as director of global transportation safety at Amazon, implementing innovative road safety processes.

[SPEAKER_03]: These are a long time later and workplace safety with more than 30 years of driving positive results and leading transformative, transformative.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's the word.

[SPEAKER_03]: Change.

[SPEAKER_03]: Long-standing member of the National Safety Council on American Society of Safety Professionals is deeply committed to injury and accident prevention so that every worker can go home safe.

[SPEAKER_03]: And apparently he's a graduate of Sullivan University and Louisville, Kentucky.

[SPEAKER_03]: So there you go.

[SPEAKER_03]: OSHA has a new head.

[SPEAKER_03]: And that's different from the last administration with the President Trump's administration.

[SPEAKER_03]: They did not have a head of OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: They only had an acting member in that position.

[SPEAKER_03]: And the assistant deputy director is to say deputy assistant secretary is going to be a man to wood, LIHO.

[SPEAKER_03]: She was in the position acting, but now that we never been with OSHA, but OSHA has a leader, so that's part of the update Another thing that I did not update she guys on on the OSHA

[SPEAKER_03]: is what to expect.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I've done this before in my podcast.

[SPEAKER_03]: So I want to make sure that I tell you guys a little bit about what to expect with OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: But before we do, let's get a quick word when we come back for my quick word about the safety consultant, the blueprint.

[SPEAKER_03]: and then when we get back then I'll give you guys a little bit about the budget real quick and I think that's maybe it with the OSHA thing so let's take a quick break and get

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[SPEAKER_01]: We now return to the safety consultants show.

[SPEAKER_01]: Once again, here's Sheldon Primus.

[SPEAKER_03]: All right, welcome back.

[SPEAKER_03]: So let's do a quick little.

[SPEAKER_01]: We now return to the safety.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm so much sure.

[SPEAKER_03]: What's her yet?

[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I know.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's a set to repeat.

[SPEAKER_03]: All right, anyway, what we're going to go over real quick is what to expect out of OSHA this year, especially those of you that are trying to figure out what clients to try to get to.

[SPEAKER_03]: Those of you that are still active safety officers

[SPEAKER_03]: So first filler enforcement is going to be going down by 168 FTE's full-time equivalent hours.

[SPEAKER_03]: So let's say you need it to get some body to work on a project and you want to track their hours, then what you're going to be doing is every hour this person goes towards the project, but that's going to be set aside as like the safety part of this their job.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, I think about full-time equivalent hours as being a 40-hour work week, right?

[SPEAKER_03]: So, ocean is reducing that by 168, and I believe the numbers are represented in thousands, or not dollars or in thousands.

[SPEAKER_03]: But either way, they're also going to be going down, let's see.

[SPEAKER_03]: $2.3 million almost $2.4 million less in enforcement.

[SPEAKER_03]: Does that mean that OSHA is going to stop enforcement?

[SPEAKER_03]: No.

[SPEAKER_03]: does not mean that at all.

[SPEAKER_03]: So what it does mean is that there's going to be specific enforcement.

[SPEAKER_03]: The training grants are supposed to go away, but I think we'll still have them, but usually something that they always say that will go away.

[SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, let's tell you what will be the new things that OSHA is going to or not even new.

[SPEAKER_03]: These are the priorities that OSHA is going to be going for.

[SPEAKER_03]: First, I'm not going to see it.

[SPEAKER_03]: You're not going to see any new standards.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's one of the things that's going to go up.

[SPEAKER_03]: You're actually going to just get an update of existing standards.

[SPEAKER_03]: And so that's what you're looking for, I'm looking through right here.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yep, just pretty much an update of existing standards.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's what I would expect.

[SPEAKER_03]: So the wording here says this funding will allow for OSHA to continue to focus on moving priority, rule making through the regulatory process.

[SPEAKER_03]: So this still make rules just priority and initiate additional rule making including update older OSHA standards and new rule making for high hazard industries or processes.

[SPEAKER_03]: So high hazard That's what they're gonna focus on Now into workloads summary

[SPEAKER_03]: It's just basically it's going to be more, um, if, uh, again, um, it's just looking through this.

[SPEAKER_03]: It just looks like, uh, they're going to update existing programs, uh, federal enforcement, though.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's the thing that I want you guys to know.

[SPEAKER_03]: So in 2026, OSHA intends to conduct 24,929 inspections.

[SPEAKER_03]: If you've ever heard people say that our OSHA say that they don't have a quota in the budget page 21, we know what their inspections are going to be.

[SPEAKER_03]: So it is 24,920 million inspections.

[SPEAKER_03]: 19,918 inspections and 4,900 health inspections, and I'm running up, and then here's the phrase right here.

[SPEAKER_03]: OSHA anticipates that approximately 70 to 80 percent of these inspections will be

[SPEAKER_03]: unprogrammed inspections, and that means inspections of imminent dangers, fatalities or catastrophes, complaints, referrals, emphasis hazards, and employer reported referrals.

[SPEAKER_03]: 70 to 80 percent, so that's a lot.

[SPEAKER_03]: So for those you try to figure out what it's just going to do, here's a for instance, someone calls in OSHA that takes priority, especially if it's a formal one.

[SPEAKER_03]: The health inspector goes through your facility and they see some workplace hazards at the same time.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's what they're talking about there.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, imminent danger.

[SPEAKER_03]: Someone calls them and gives them a credible imminent danger.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's what they're talking about here.

[SPEAKER_03]: So those are the things.

[SPEAKER_03]: And then later on they say OSHA estimates that approximately 20 to 30 percent of inspections will be programmed.

[SPEAKER_03]: That's your national emphasis program, your local emphasis program, site specific targeting and construction targeting.

[SPEAKER_03]: So therefore, if you're in construction, you're going to see OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: Now, here's another thing that they say, and I'm reading this all from their budget, where the money goes, that's where the activity is in fiscal year 2026 OSHA estimates that at least 36% of all inspections will be conducted in accordance to the emphasis addressing the four most common hazards.

[SPEAKER_03]: Falls, electrocution hazards struck by

[SPEAKER_03]: on seeing regularly a construction site.

[SPEAKER_03]: So those are construction.

[SPEAKER_03]: 36% of ocean's inspections are going to be focused for inspections.

[SPEAKER_03]: So there you go, you just could foresee the future that is what to expect.

[SPEAKER_03]: The rest of everything else, you know, workload and all that stuff, you guys could look up.

[SPEAKER_03]: What you're going to do is you're going to look up CBJ, and that's for the congressional budget.

[SPEAKER_03]: Justification, CBJ, 2020, 6, version 2, 12.

[SPEAKER_03]: So it'll be CBJ, and this is a Google searcher, whatever search engine you use, type in CBJ.

[SPEAKER_03]: Hiphon, 2026, Hiphon V, 2, Hiphon 12, and that's going to get you the budget document I just went over and I didn't go over everything but I gave you enough.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, now that you got this information, you know, OSHA's got a new inspector, you know, that there's a new OSHA CARES poster, you know, exactly.

[SPEAKER_03]: Now, what to, how to protect yourself?

[SPEAKER_03]: There you go.

[SPEAKER_03]: And that's just truly, if you have any of those high hazard industries, you're going to still see OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: I got you.

[SPEAKER_03]: See, there you go.

[SPEAKER_03]: So that's what to expect from OSHA.

[SPEAKER_03]: That is the OSHA update.

[SPEAKER_03]: For some of you who do not know, I have launched by coaching program.

[SPEAKER_03]: There's many varying degrees of getting some help to start your safety consulting business.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I've tried to be with you along the way, depending on how much you're ready.

[SPEAKER_03]: So people may just be ready for the podcast stage, you just try to get information as much as you can.

[SPEAKER_03]: Then the next stage would be to go ahead and take the safety blueprint course, get you a nice foundation of what needs to happen.

[SPEAKER_03]: Some of you are ready to take the next step, which is coaching.

[SPEAKER_03]: So if you go to Sheldon, S-H-E-L-D-O-N.coach, C-O-A-C-H, Sheldon.coach, you're going to go ahead and see the coaching program that I've set up, take a good look, see what it looks like, and then I've got a readiness audit for you.

[SPEAKER_03]: So when she click on the button on that website, it's going to go ahead and give you a nice little questionnaire to fill out.

[SPEAKER_03]: And when you get done, I get a little notification that someone's filled out the questionnaire.

[SPEAKER_03]: I'll review it and I'll see where you're at.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I select the people I coach from there.

[SPEAKER_03]: You'll have a one-on-one call with me every other week.

[SPEAKER_03]: They're going to give you assignments to do, but I'm also going to listen to hear where you're at, what you want.

[SPEAKER_03]: And we're going to be working together to get your business going and to get you a profitable safety consultant business.

[SPEAKER_03]: So if you're ready for that stage, especially those of you that has been doing it for a while, and you're ready to

[SPEAKER_03]: really scale your business.

[SPEAKER_03]: Then I'm going to help you with that.

[SPEAKER_03]: So just go to Sheldon.coach, take the readiness, audit, and then I'll get in touch with it.

[SPEAKER_03]: And we'll see if I can get you started.

[SPEAKER_03]: So that is the thing that want to make sure I share with you guys, Sheldon.coach.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's a wrap for today's safety show.

[SPEAKER_01]: Remember, safety isn't just about hard hats and caution signs.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's about business smarts too.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for joining us on the safety consultant show with Sheldon primus.

[SPEAKER_01]: And until next time, stay safe, stay savvy, and keep consulting like a boss.

[SPEAKER_01]: Go get him.

[SPEAKER_01]: The views and opinions expressed on this podcast or broadcast are those of the host in its guest and did not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the company.

[SPEAKER_01]: Examples of analysis discussed within the past hour only examples.

[SPEAKER_01]: It should not be utilized in the real world as the only solution available, as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information.

[SPEAKER_01]: Assumption made within this analysis are not reflective of the positions of the company.

[SPEAKER_01]: No part of this podcast of broadcast may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means mechanical electronic recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the creator of the podcast or broadcast, Sheldon Primes.

[SPEAKER_02]: This episode has been powered by Safety FM.