Remarks for 2025 NSC Congress & Expo

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

- As prepared for delivery -

Good morning and thank you for that kind introduction. I'm honored to be here and to have the opportunity to speak at this year's National Safety Council Congress.

I'd also like to thank Lorraine Martin for her vision and leadership, as well as the work her team does to inspire progress for workers nationwide.

The National Safety Council has long been a trusted leader in safety and health, dedicated to helping save lives and preventing injuries and illnesses across workplaces and communities.

And we are proud to partner with NSC, combining our strengths to advance safety and health, and working side-by-side to ensure every worker goes home safe and healthy.

Introduction

Although I've been at OSHA for nine months, the agency has held a special place for me for years. I've had the opportunity to get to know the agency's work over time as a Commissioner with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. I reviewed workplace safety and health cases from worksites across the country to determine whether employers followed current safety and health standards.

Whether it was my work at the Commission, my work on Capitol Hill, or on behalf of America's manufacturers, the heart of my career has been dedicated to labor issues and advocating for issues that shape workers' everyday lives.

These years of experience have given me a deeper understanding and greater appreciation for the importance of workplace safety.

Now, in my role at OSHA, I look forward to continuing this work – the work of keeping America's workers safe.

Our Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, also shares the same vision. In her more than two decades of public service, she has focused on strengthening communities, supporting workers, and driving economic growth.

She's been on a nationwide America at Work listening tour to hear directly from workers about the challenges facing their industries and discuss the Department of Labor's efforts to put American workers first.

Throughout the Secretary's travels, she has met with workers, unions, employers, and industry leaders to ensure that real-world experiences help shape and modernize federal labor policies and practices.

I know many of you are familiar with David Keeling, the President's nominee for OSHA's Assistant Secretary. He is in the final stages of the confirmation process, and we eagerly await him to step into this new role.

I want to assure you that while we wait for Mr. Keeling, we continue to advance the vital work every day to create safer workplaces and stronger opportunities for all.

OSHA's Vision and Initiatives

We know that there has been significant progress in improving workplace conditions, but we also know that OSHA's work must continue.

However, we can't achieve our mission with enforcement only. That's why we're taking a balanced approach – one that values partnerships and strong compliance assistance as essential strategies alongside traditional enforcement.

And that's exactly what our current vision reflects:

• It's about working more closely with small businesses because they are the backbone of our economy and often need additional support to keep workers safe.
• It's about listening to our stakeholders and making sure that employers and workers help guide our decisions.
• It's about building greater collaboration, because we can make real progress when we come together.
• And it's about increasing the use of compliance assistance to give employers the tools and knowledge they need to protect workers to prevent tragedies.

By investing in compliance assistance and meeting employers where they are, we can help businesses succeed, while keeping workers safe.

We want to offer support from the top down and remove barriers at every level so we can help businesses not only meet federal requirements, but also build stronger, more successful safety and health programs that don't just check a box but truly benefit both employers and workers.

One key aspect of supporting strong safety and health programs is the collaborative work we do through our cooperative programs, ranging from on-site consultations with small and medium-sized businesses, to recognizing exemplary programs through our Voluntary Protection Programs.

We're working to expand these initiatives so more workplaces can benefit from engaging with OSHA and one another to build and enhance their programs along the way.

Recently, we shared how OSHA is updating its recognition programs. One of our goals is to build on the success of the Voluntary Protection Programs, or VPP, to strengthen safety and health management programs in every workplace.

VPP was created to promote a proactive approach to worker protection – encouraging employers to go beyond compliance and take an active role in safeguarding their workforce. For over 40 years, VPP has provided a solid foundation for workplace safety.

But a lot has changed over the past four decades. Workplaces look different. The risks workers face have evolved.

And the strategies for managing workplace safety and health have also advanced. That's why it's essential for OSHA's approach to voluntary and recognition programs to evolve as well – so they can meet the needs of today's workforce.

Building on our existing framework, we are developing a pathway that worksites can progress along in promoting improved safety and health.

Our new Pathway to Safety and Health Success is designed to expand and improve workplace protections, by:

• Increasing our outreach to more employers, especially small businesses.
• Connecting workplaces with volunteer safety and health professionals for guidance and support.
• Incorporating leading indicators to measure progress proactively rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
• And expanding the Safety and Health Management Systems (SHMS) framework to reflect the practices that many of our Star VPP sites are already implementing.

We'll be sharing more details about these exciting changes in the coming months, but each step reflects our commitment to creating safer workplaces, working together and making sure every worker makes it home at the end of the day.

In June, as you may know, we announced an initiative to raise awareness about OSHA's Letters of Interpretation – our official responses to questions about how workplace requirements apply to specific situations or hazards.

The letters are a valuable resource, but they've often been overlooked. So, we have taken steps to make it easier to search and understand to help employers better understand how to comply with Federal OSHA requirements. Now, you can search by keyword, standard number, or date, and quickly find past interpretations along with direct links to related standards.

We've also recently updated our penalty and debt collection procedures. These changes are focused on prevention and prompt hazard abatement.

The new policy increases penalty reductions for small employers, making it easier for small businesses to invest resources in compliance and hazard abatement.

For example, a 70% penalty reduction, previously limited to businesses with 10 or fewer employees, has now expanded to include businesses that employ up to 25 employees. We've also introduced new guidelines for a 15% penalty reduction for employers who immediately take steps to address or correct a hazard.

Small employers who are working in good faith to comply with complex federal laws should not face the same penalties as large employers with greater resources.

By expanding penalty reductions for small employers who are trying to do the right thing, we are supporting the entrepreneurs who drive our economy and giving them the tools they need to keep workers safe while keeping them accountable.

Regulatory Agenda

Another critical part of our work is determining the Administration's regulatory and deregulatory priorities. The Department recently published its regulatory agenda; a plan that advances a set of priority actions aimed at reducing unnecessary burdens, modernizing outdated rules, and prioritizing clarity and efficiency. As we work on OSHA's regulatory agenda, your comments are vital in creating clear and efficient standards that meet today's modern workforce.

Supporting Families and Mental Health

Whether it's regulatory efficiencies, strategic enforcement, compliance assistance, or collaboration, everything we do is aimed at one thing - returning workers home, safe and sound, at the end of every shift.

Because behind every workplace fatality and serious injury, there is so much more than a headline or statistic – there are individuals who are loved and will be missed by their families, friends, and communities. Each loss has a devastating impact on those left behind.

For the families, there is no amount of money or action that could ever replace their loved ones.

They want to know that their loss is more than a number, that it stands for something that can lead to change that protects other workers and prevents other families from experiencing the same devastating loss.

We stand by every family and loved one who lost someone in a workplace incident, and they will not be forgotten.

I would be remiss if I didn't address one of the more pressing issues facing workers today: mental health and suicide.

We know that not all hazards are visible. Workplace safety is not just about preventing physical injuries – it should also include protecting the mental well-being of workers.

Too often, mental health and suicide are recognized separately from other workplace safety issues.

But the truth is that when workers are struggling, it affects their health, safety, and ability to effectively perform their jobs.

Here's a sobering fact: The construction industry has one of the highest occupational suicide rates in the nation. Long days, inconsistent and demanding work schedules, and job-related injuries can all take a toll on mental health.

Now, there's no single cause of suicide. But research shows that work-related stress can affect mental well-being. Sometimes this leads to anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and sometimes even suicide.

And there's another critical layer of safety we can't overlook – psychological safety. A workplace is often a large part of daily life so it's important for a worker to feel safe and know they have support if they need it.

This month, during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, we're joining our Deputy Secretary of Labor, Keith Sonderling, along with industry leaders, educators, and other partners to share resources, start conversations, and encourage workers to seek mental health care when needed.

OSHA is also doing its part by offering training and resources on mental wellness and suicide prevention.

We have a webpage dedicated to workplace stress and construction suicide prevention that has tools to help mitigate workplace stress, build resiliency, and ensure that those who need support know where to turn.

Closing

Before we close, I want to leave you with this: good safety and health doesn't stop at the workplace – it's a culture we can all have a hand in shaping, throughout our daily lives. Whether you are a safety professional, industry supplier or simply someone looking out for your loved ones, your role matters.

When we work together – industry, government, employers – we can create policies and guidance that not only look good on paper, but protect the people who matter the most, the end users. The ones on the shop floor. The ones who rely on us to get it right.

Preventable injuries and fatalities are not inevitable. They are challenges we can solve – by listening, learning and working together.

At OSHA, we want to build a future where safety is not just a priority – it's a shared value and commitment that informs every decision we make to put the American worker first.

I appreciate your dedication, and I look forward to future collaboration.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to be with you today and hope you enjoy the rest of the conference.