On Aug. 9, 2024, ASSP was honored to welcome Doug Parker, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, to address the sold-out Safety 2024 Conference in Denver, CO.

Parker shared OSHA’s work to advocate for safety and health as core organizational values, and he encouraged all workers and employers to reflect on what these mean for their workplace. He also highlighted several of the agency’s latest efforts, including:

• Robust enforcement of workplace protections, including national emphasis programs on fall protection and preventing workplace hazards in warehousing, distribution and higher risk retail sectors
• VPP modernization
• Work to address imminent dangers
• Rulemaking activities
• Increased whistleblower protections
• Promoting health and safety management systems to go beyond compliance

Following these updates, Parker bestowed the Assistant Secretary of OSHA Challenge Coin to Jim Thornton, CSP, CIH, FASSP, the Society’s 2023-24 president, for his significant contributions to the broader safety and health community throughout his career.

“I am very honored to accept this,” Thornton noted. “I accept the challenge, and I will continue the challenge.”

Parker then sat down with ASSP President Pam Walaski, CSP, FASSP, to take questions from the audience. Their conversation covered a wide range of topics including:

• OSHA’s work to propose a heat rule
• DEI initiatives
• Updates on the Chevron deference ruling
• Measuring success
• Head protection best practices
• Updates on rules addressing infectious diseases
• Resources addressing psychosocial factors

When asked about OSHA’s expected proposed heat rule, Parker suggested that empirical evidence supports the agency’s approach. “We know that a lot of people die from heat each year... We know that [we don’t capture the full scale of this], and it’s important that we act.”