OSHA REGIONAL REALIGNMENT

OSHA Regional Realignment

DOL announced changes to the structure of OSHA’s Regional Operations to be implemented by the end of the current FY. The changes reflect the nation’s demographic and industrial changes since the passage of the OSH Act and will allow stronger enforcement in the South and more state oversight and whistleblower presence in the West — an area dominated by State run programs. The changes include creation of a new OSHA Regional Office in Birmingham, Alabama, overseeing agency operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee as well as the Florida Panhandle. The Birmingham Region will address the area’s growing worker population and the hazardous work done by people employed in food processing, construction, heavy manufacturing, and chemical processing. OSHA will merge Regions 9 and 10 into a new San Francisco Region. As part of the change, the agency will also rename its Regions to associate them by geography, rather than its current practice of assigning numbers. Region 4 will be renamed the Atlanta Region with jurisdiction over Florida, excluding the Panhandle; Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Region 6 will be renamed the Dallas Region with jurisdiction over New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The composition of OSHA’s other Regions will remain the same, but renamed as follows:

·  Region 1 - Boston Region

·  Region 2 - New York City Region

·  Region 3 - Philadelphia Region

·  Region 4 - Atlanta Region

·  Region 5 - Chicago Region

·  Birmingham Region

·  Region 6 - Dallas Region

·  Region 7 - Kansas City Region

·  Region 8 - Denver Region

·  Regions 9 and 10 - San Francisco Region

View a map of OSHA’s new regional structure and boundaries.

Posted by Michelle Bradshaw on 05/09/2024