E&W Blog

Today, the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing to examine workplace safety.

Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) opened the hearing by drawing attention to the fact that as workplaces change and new technologies emerge, workplace safety policies need to keep up.

“The workplace has evolved dramatically in recent decades, bringing new risks to both employers and employees. Today, businesses must navigate an increasingly complex safety landscape shaped by rapidly changing technology, new worker arrangements such as remote work, and evolving operational demands. At the same time, long-standing safety concerns that once received limited attention are now at the forefront of workplace safety discussions. Yet, while the nature of work constantly changes, the regulatory framework governing workplace safety has often struggled to keep pace,” he said.

Witnesses highlighted how many employers are already finding practical ways to improve safety and reduce injuries before they happen.

“On May 4, Associated Builders and Contractors released its 2026 Health and Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to health and safety best practices on construction jobsites reflecting more than 1.3 billion hours of work completed in 2025. The report is especially relevant to today’s hearing because it demonstrates how private-sector safety systems, including the use of leading indicators, are already helping contractors identify hazards, reduce risk, and improve outcomes before incidents occur,” said  Mr. Pat Sughrue, Senior Director of Health, Safety, and Environmental at Cianbro Corporation.

Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) asked Ms. Lorraine Martin, CEO at the National Safety Council, about artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace and how adoption can improve safety. 

“[AI] has great promise and practicality for helping us identify hazards…and then even recommending how to control those hazards. One of the things that’s really important is to make sure there is always human judgement in there and that the employees are part of this process…Any time we adopt a new technology there is often a challenge of making sure it’s accepted [and] that the employees understand…how it’s making their job safer,” she said. 

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) discussed the importance of practical application. Oftentimes, OSHA’s rulemaking process is often too slow to respond to changes in the workplace. As a result, guidance can be unclear, outdated, or difficult for employers to apply in real-world situations.

“Employers are not standing still. The role of Congress and OSHA is not to stand in for that work, but to support it with clear rules where rules are needed, with industry-specific regulations tailored to the recognized consensus standards where they exist, with cooperative programs that reward good actors, and with restraint about expanding enforcement into areas where the law has not yet caught up to the technology. A balance that is protective, principled, and practical is what will give employers the flexibility to keep workers safe through innovation,” Ms. Melissa K. Peters, Shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, explained in her opening. 

Bottom line: This is not about reducing worker protections—it’s about making them work better. Safety standards should reflect today’s workplace and support practical, proven approaches that help prevent accidents and keep workers safe.