Nominees Selected to Lead OSHA and MSHA

President Trump has nominated David Keeling and Wayne Palmer to lead OSHA and MSHA, respectively. Keeling and Palmer were among several nominations sent to the Senate on Feb. 12 by the White House.

 

Keeling, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, started work at UPS in 1985 and became vice president of global health and safety in 2018, a position he held until June 2021. He moved to Amazon a month later, where he was director of global road and transportation safety until May 2023.

 

Palmer served in the first Trump administration as acting head of MSHA until the confirmation of David Zatezalo in November 2017. Palmer then served as principal deputy assistant secretary at MSHA until 2021. Recently, Palmer has been executive vice president of the Essential Minerals Association, an advisor to the Department of Commerce Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Critical Minerals and Nonferrous Metals, and a senior advisor in the Department of Labor Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs.

 

Nomination hearings for Keeling and Palmer have not yet been scheduled by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Yesterday, the Committee held hearings to consider Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the president’s nominee for Secretary of Labor. Chavez-DeRemer is currently a U.S. Representative from Oregon.

 

 

A report published on Jan. 29 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) describes gaps in the public health workforce in the United States that exist across multiple occupations, including nursing and epidemiology. According to GAO, the gaps vary by location, with more pronounced gaps in some regions, especially rural areas. GAO also found that gaps in the workforce “may be exacerbated during public health emergencies as needs increase, especially when accompanied by staff departures” like those that occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to increased workplace stress and public mistrust and criticism of public health workers.

 

The report concludes that gaps in the public health workforce “limit the ability of jurisdictions to conduct key public health functions, such as disease investigation and control, identification of hazards, and readiness to respond to emergencies.” Regarding hazard identification and control and emergency preparedness and response—both areas in which occupational and environmental health and safety professionals often work—GAO identified gaps in staff with skills in data analysis, a key competency for responding to public health emergencies.

 

Officials in five of 11 jurisdictions in which GAO conducted interviews indicated a need for staff with skills in informatics, which the Public Health Informatics Institute defines as “the science of how to use data, information and knowledge to improve human health and the delivery of health care services.” The report further describes a need for public health training in informatics so that more people “can use available data to identify community hazards and available assets to address such hazards.” According to GAO, knowledge of informatics can help the public health workforce address public health needs and disparities and to improve disease surveillance.

 

The report stems from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which called on GAO to study existing gaps in the public health workforce, including positions that may involve preparing for and responding to public health emergencies; challenges related to hiring, recruiting, and retaining the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial public health workforce; and what efforts have been made to address these challenges. GAO is an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress. The agency’s new report can be found on its website along with more information about GAO.

 

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In an important marker of progress achieved on long-term Superfund cleanups across the Pacific Southwest region, in 2025 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will perform comprehensive Five-Year Reviews of cleanups at 26 Superfund sites across Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada. EPA will undertake these legally required reviews to ensure that cleanup efforts, some of which were completed years ago, continue to be protective of public health and the environment.

 

“Reviewing the long-term, complex cleanup work at these Superfund sites is critical to ensuring that public health and the environment will continue to be protected,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Superfund and Emergency Management Director Michael Montgomery. “Cleanups at these sites also promote redevelopment, providing communities with the opportunity for a variety of reuse options.”

 

Once the Five-Year Reviews are complete, the findings will be posted to each Superfund site’s webpage. The reviews to be completed in 2025 are:

 

Arizona:

 

California:

 

Hawaii:

 

Nevada:

 

Throughout the process of designing and constructing a Superfund cleanup (also called a remedy) at a hazardous waste site, EPA's primary goal is to make sure the remedy will be protective of public health and the environment. After the remedy has begun to move forward, EPA continues to ensure it remains protective by requiring reviews of cleanups every five years. It is important for EPA to regularly check on these sites to ensure the remedy is working properly. These reviews identify issues (if any) that may affect the protectiveness of the constructed remedy and, if necessary, recommend action(s) necessary to address them.

 

There are many phases of the Superfund cleanup process, including considering future use and redevelopment of sites as well as conducting post cleanup monitoring of sites. EPA must ensure that any redevelopment will uphold the protectiveness of the remedy into the future.

 

The Superfund program, a federal program established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and endeavors to facilitate activities to return them to productive use. In total, there are 140 Superfund sites (this includes sites currently on the National Priorities List, deleted sites, and sites under the Superfund Alternative Approach program) across EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region.

 

 

Following the recent catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles County, California, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just hit a major milestone in the agency’s largest ever wildfire hazardous waste cleanup. President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order on January 24, 2025, directing EPA to complete this hazardous materials mission within 30 days. Work began on January 28, and in under three weeks EPA has already cleared or deferred 75% of the properties that were impacted by the fires. EPA is on track to meet the President’s ambitious deadline. With hazardous materials safely removed, Los Angeles will be able to move forward and begin to rebuild.

 

“EPA staff on the ground are working around the clock to get as many properties cleared of hazardous material as quickly and safely as possible. Not only is this the largest wildfire cleanup in the agency’s history, but it will go down as the speediest recovery thanks to presidential leadership and a hardworking, passionate team at EPA. Californians and all Americans can rest assured, EPA will always be there to respond to emergencies and help rebuild,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

 

At the direction of President Trump, EPA partnered with the U.S. military and Department of Homeland Security to develop and execute a plan to expedite the removal of contaminated and general debris for the 13,595 residential properties and 305 commercial properties impacted. 

 

Administrator Zeldin traveled to Los Angeles on February 6, 2025, to survey damage and meet with EPA personnel on the ground.

 

EPA has been assigned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the first phase of the overall recovery and cleanup: the project to remove lithium-ion batteries and to survey, remove, and dispose of hazardous materials from properties burned by wildfires. This work, conducted at no cost to residents, ensures the safety of residents and the workers who will — after the hazardous material is gone — conduct Phase 2 debris removal in the burn footprints, and prevent these materials from being released into the environment. Phase 2 will be conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as coordinated by FEMA. 

 

EPA will remove potentially dangerous everyday products and chemicals, including things like paints, cleaning supplies, and automotive oils, lawn products such as herbicides and pesticides, batteries, including both standard and rechargeable types, and propane tanks and other pressurized gas containers. They will remove visible asbestos and inspect pressurized fuel cylinders (like propane tanks). After a fire, these products require special handling, especially if their containers are damaged. EPA field teams will also remove items thought to have asbestos if they are easy to identify, but the property will not be fully cleared until Phase 2 (debris removal).

 

Properties deferred to Phase 2 means that due to the presence of unsafe conditions at the property, household hazardous waste removal crews cannot complete Phase 1 assessment and certification. In this case, household hazardous waste removal activities will be included during Phase 2 removal.

 

EPA will also remove lithium-ion batteries from vehicles, homes and other products. Many homes have damaged or destroyed lithium-ion batteries, lithium-ion battery energy storage systems, and electric and hybrid vehicles. The batteries should be considered extremely dangerous, even if they look intact. Lithium-ion batteries can spontaneously re-ignite, explode, and emit toxic gases and particulates even after the fire is out.

 

Additionally, EPA has convened a working group to coordinate with utilities, state, local and federal stakeholders to expedite cleanup operations and meet unmet needs in the sector. At the request of water utilities, EPA is also providing technical assistance to help bring systems back online. EPA is also offering technical assistance as local air authorities monitor for air pollution in the communities impacted by both fires.

 

If residents are on their property when EPA arrives for the hazardous materials removal, the crew will not be able to conduct work at that property and will return at a later time. EPA will remove only hazardous materials, by hand, and will not remove any non-hazardous materials. If crews find objects of value, EPA will contact local law enforcement to track and remove the objects for safekeeping.

 

EPA has secured temporary storage, or staging, locations for materials from each fire site. Staging areas are essential to the hazardous material and ultimately debris removal process and will enable residents to rebuild their homes faster. Removed hazardous waste materials are packaged where they are collected and arrive to the staging area sealed and remain sealed throughout the process. At the staging area, they are processed into appropriate waste streams and further packaged for safety during shipment and proper disposal. EPA is using best management practices to process any hazardous household material and keep it contained within the facility. Throughout this process, EPA will conduct air monitoring to ensure that operations in and around the site are health protective.

 

The public can find more information about EPA’s hazardous material removal operations at EPA’s 2025 California Wildfires website. This website is continuously updated as EPA's work moves forward.  

 

 

The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has released “Spell It Out,” a new toolkit intended to help create safer workplaces through plain language. The toolkit stresses the need for clear, simple, inclusive communication related to occupational health and safety. CCOHS recommends health and safety professionals, employers, and others avoid unnecessary jargon, spell out acronyms, use active voice, and organize information logically when sharing information with workers. Complex language and technical terms can cause workers to feel excluded, CCOHS cautions, but plain language helps foster a welcoming work environment.

 

“In today's diverse work environments, using acronyms, jargon, and complex words can create barriers and make it hard for everyone to understand important health and safety guidance, including people who are new to the workforce or those who speak a different first language,” CCOHS states in a news release. “These misunderstandings may lead to confusion, errors, injuries and feelings of exclusion among employees.”

 

The “Spell It Out” resources, which include videos, posters, and infographics, are available for free on the CCOHS website.

 

 

The results of a serosurvey conducted among 150 bovine veterinary practitioners in mid-September found evidence of recent infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) virus in three practitioners, according to a report published last week in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). None of the practitioners with positive serology results worked with dairy cattle with known or suspected HPAI A(H5) virus infection, though one practitioner reported working with poultry confirmed to be infected with the virus.

 

Two of the seropositive practitioners cared for cattle in multiple states, including states with known HPAI A(H5) infection among dairy cattle as of September 2024. However, one practitioner with a positive serologic test result reported caring for cattle only in Georgia and South Carolina, two states that had not reported HPAI A(H5) infection in dairy cattle. (According to U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service data that was last updated on Jan. 16, Georgia and South Carolina still have no cases of confirmed HPAI A(H5) virus infection in cattle, and the states have no reported human cases per CDC.)

 

All three affected practitioners reported wearing gloves or a clothing cover while caring for cattle, but none reported the use of respiratory or eye protection. The three seropositive practitioners did not report any respiratory or influenza-like symptoms, including conjunctivitis, or red, draining, or itching eyes, which CDC describes as “the predominant symptom among recent U.S. cases of avian influenza A(H5) virus infection.”

 

“Detection of HPAI A(H5) antibodies in persons without reported symptoms suggests that surveillance of symptomatic exposed workers might underestimate human infection,” the MMWR states. “These data highlight the possible benefit of national seroprevalence assessments of recent HPAI A(H5) infection among practitioners at increased risk for exposure, which might help assess occupational risk in states without confirmed HPAI A(H5) virus detections in dairy cattle.”

 

The CDC report also suggests “continued systematic surveillance of livestock and milk” as part of the nation’s approach to help protect veterinary practitioners and others who work with animals. For further details, read the MMWR.

 

As of Feb. 19, CDC had confirmed 69 human cases of avian influenza A(H5) and 1 death. The virus is responsible for outbreaks in poultry flocks and an ongoing multi-state outbreak among dairy cattle that was first identified in March 2024. CDC characterizes the current public health risk as low and states that there is currently no evidence for person-to-person H5N1 transmission.

 

 

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