Now that we have entered 2025, the landscape of workplace safety, regulatory compliance and environmental standards is poised for significant transformation.

With Donald Trump returning to the presidency and a Republican-controlled Senate and House, the regulatory agenda is expected to shift dramatically, impacting the safety field, according to Adele Abrams, Esq., CSP, CMSP, president of the safety-focused Law Office of Adele L. Abrams P.C.

Drawing from ongoing legislation, recent court cases and publicly available Project 2025 information, Abrams examined key areas that may be affected in a recent webinar sponsored by ASSP's Women in Safety Excellence Common Interest Group. These areas include challenges to OSHA’s authority and proposed regulations, environmental laws, the demise of Chevron deference, and the evolving role of courts in safety adjudication.

1. OSHA’s Authority May Be Challenged

A major question for many safety professionals involves challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the landmark legislation that established OSHA and shaped workplace safety as we know it today.

In early 2023, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) proposed H.R.69, the NOSHA Act, which sought to eliminate OSHA. The proposal did not gain traction because a Democrat-controlled Senate would likely quash the bill, even if it passed the House, Abrams says.

But with a more conservative Congress sworn in this January, Abrams believes this legislation will likely be reintroduced and advance through hearings.

The courts present another potential route to eliminating OSHA. The Allstates Refractory Contractors LLC v. Su case challenged OSHA’s constitutionality under the nondelegation doctrine. While similar challenges failed in the past and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear this case in 2024, dissenting opinions from Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch signal that the issue might be reconsidered.

Eliminating OSHA through any avenue would bring seismic changes to workplace safety. While state OSHA plans might remain, federal safety benchmarks would disappear, causing states to bolster their safety programs or, as Abrams suggests, to possibly abandon their state plans altogether.

2. Recent and Ongoing OSHA Proposals May Face New Scrutiny

In addition to potential challenges to OSHA itself, several key proposed rules face possible delays or derailments, Abrams explains.

• Proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard. OSHA’s long-awaited heat stress standard, initially proposed in July 2024, aims to address workplace heat exposure through enforceable, evidence-based measures. However, legal challenges and resistance from the business community may delay or prevent its finalization, creating challenges for multi-state companies navigating inconsistent state rules.
• Worker Walkaround Rule. Finalized in April 2024, this rule allows employees to designate third-party representatives who are “reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough inspection” to accompany OSHA officials during a workplace inspection. Critics argue it exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority. Abrams predicts it will be struck down by judicial review.
• Proposed Emergency Response Standard. Updates to the decades-old Fire Brigades standard aim to improve first responder safety. However, industry opposition and regulatory hesitancy could prevent its implementation, Abrams says.

“These rules are likely to be frozen for the next four years or killed outright,” Abrams says.

3. Courts May Handle Safety Cases Differently

The judicial system’s evolving role in adjudicating workplace safety disputes adds complexity to safety's future challenges, Abrams says.

The Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ended 40 years of “Chevron deference,” a doctrine granting agencies with relevant expertise discretion in interpreting ambiguous statutes. Now, courts can substitute agency expertise with their own interpretations, fundamentally altering administrative law.

Under this new direction, OSHA may struggle to defend rules like its heat stress standard, Abrams says. Because the original OSH Act does not directly reference heat, it could be considered ambiguous on this point. Any challenges to the heat stress standard would allow a court to rely on personal knowledge when determining its validity and authority. Judges could reject the standard outright and require explicit congressional authorization for it to stand.

Even longstanding rules are at risk. Previously, businesses had six years from the point of a rule’s promulgation to challenge it, but the July 2024 Corner Post Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System decision allows businesses formed after a rule’s promulgation six years from the point of “injury by agency action” to challenge the rule. This could result in a surge of lawsuits and destabilize government and business functions, as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned in her dissent.

The venue for these legal challenges may also change. Cases may shift from trial in administrative courts, where judges specialize in safety regulation, to common law courts, where subject matter expertise is harder to establish and may hold less weight with judges and juries.

As a result of these changes, forum shopping — seeking courts less likely to refer to agency expertise and more likely to strike down federal legislation — is expected to increase.

4. The Department of Labor May Face Deregulation

The Department of Labor could face deregulation efforts similar to those aimed at OSHA, but may not experience the same degree of impact, Abrams says.

Project 2025 suggests easing worker safety regulations, including reducing minimum wage thresholds, eliminating overtime protections and permitting youth employment in “inherently dangerous jobs.” The safety ramifications of such changes could be profound, Abrams says. She encourages OSH professionals to comment or testify if they have experience in the area of child labor in particular.

The confirmation of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), the nominee for Secretary of Labor, could impact several issues as well. While labor unions support her, she faces conservative opposition, Abrams says. If confirmed, Chavez-DeRemer might resist fully eliminating federal safety agencies, which could provide some continuity amidst potential upheavals.

5. Environmental Laws and ESG May Be Diminished

More environmental deregulation is anticipated. It has been reported that the previous Trump administration rolled back nearly 100 environmental regulations, and similar actions are anticipated during his second term.

Potential recommendations include rescinding greenhouse gas reporting requirements, weakening chemical risk regulations and withdrawing from international agreements such as the Paris Accord.

Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure rule, which requires large companies to report on climate action and greenhouse gas emissions, was set to go into effect in 2026. It has faced delays and Abrams believes it is unlikely to survive Supreme Court challenges.

A retreat from environmental and occupational health regulations could impact efforts to address climate change and extreme weather events and workplace hazards linked to toxic substances, she adds.

Navigating the Road Ahead

As 2025 progresses, the regulatory and legislative landscape for workplace safety and environmental protection faces unprecedented uncertainty. From the potential elimination of OSHA to the rollback of environmental and OSH standards, safety professionals must prepare for sweeping changes.

Businesses should consider aligning with voluntary consensus standards, which may become de facto benchmarks in the absence of robust federal oversight. Meanwhile, safety professionals and legal experts must stay vigilant, advocating for policies that protect workers and ensuring compliance amidst an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

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