Texas and other Southern states can expect increased revitalized Occupational Health & Safety Act enforcement under a Department of Labor restructuring of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) regional operations.

The changes announced May 8 include the creation of a new OSHA regional office in Birmingham, Alabama, overseeing agency operations in the state, and those in 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 is also planning to merge Regions 9 and 10 into a new San Francisco Region to improve operations and reduce operating costs. 

As part of the changes, the agency will also rename its regions to associate them by geography, rather than its current practice of assigning numbers to regions.

The area OSHA calls Region 4 will be renamed the Atlanta Region with jurisdiction over Florida, excluding the Panhandle; Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The current Region 6 will be renamed the Dallas Region and have jurisdiction over workplace safety issues in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. 

The composition of OSHA’s other regions will remain the same.

When completed the agency will rename its regions as follows:

• Region 1 to the Boston Region
• Region 2 to the New York City Region
• Region 3 to the Philadelphia Region
• Region 4 to the Atlanta Region
• Region 5 to the Chicago Region
• Region 6 to the Dallas Region
• Region 7 to the Kansas City Region
• Region 8 to the Colorado Region
• Region 9 and 10 merged into the San Francisco Region, and
• The new Birmingham Region.

OSHA says the changes that reflect demographic and industrial changes since the passage of the OSH Act will allow OSHA to better respond to the needs of all workers, including those historically underserved, provide a stronger enforcement presence in the South and more consolidated state oversight and whistleblower presence in the West.

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If you need have questions or need assistance with this or other cybersecurity, health, benefit, payroll, investment or other data, systems or other privacy or security related risk management, compliance, enforcement or management concerns, to inquire about arranging for compliance audit or training, or need legal representation on other matters,  contact the author Cynthia Marcotte Stamer via e-mail or via telephone at (214) 452 -8297. 

About the Author 

Cynthia Marcotte Stamer is a practicing attorney board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and management consultant, author, public policy advocate and lecturer widely known for 35 plus years of cybersecurity, workforce, technology and other compliance, risk management and mitigation, incident and other investigations,regulatory and government affairs, and other strategic, operational, regulatory and legal and consulting management work for government contractors and other public and private businesses; managed care and other health and life science, insurance, technology, and other performance and data dependent organizations,

A Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel, Co-Chair of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) International Section Life Sciences and Health Committee and Vice-Chair Elect of its International Employment Law Committee, Chair-Elect of the ABA TIPS Section Medicine & Law Committee, Past Chair of the ABA Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, Scribe for the ABA JCEB Annual Agency Meeting with HHS-OCR, past chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Group and current co-Chair of its Welfare Benefit Committee, and Chair of the ABA Intellectual Property Section Law Practice Management Committee, Ms. Stamer is most widely recognized for her decades of pragmatic, leading-edge work, scholarship and thought leadership with healthcare and life sciences, employment and employee benefits, managed care and insurance, data and technology and other related industries and organizations. Known for her skill combined use of her extensive legal and operational knowledge to help these and other clients develop, operationalize and defend employment, employee benefits, compensation and other staffing and workforce; data, systems and other technology; heath benefit and other healthcare and life science, managed care and insurance; employee benefits, safety, contracting, quality assurance, compliance and risk management, and other legal, public policy and operational actions and practices. She speaks and publishes extensively on these and other related compliance issues.

Ms. Stamer’s work throughout her career has focused heavily on working with health care and managed care, life sciences, health and other employee benefit plan, insurance and financial services and other public and private organizations and their technology, data, and other service providers and advisors domestically and internationally with legal and operational compliance and risk management, performance and workforce management, regulatory and public policy and other legal and operational concerns. Author of a multitude of highly regarded publications on HIPAA and other medical record and data privacy and scribe for the ABA JCEB Annual Meeting with the HHS Office of Civil Rights, her experience includes extensive involvement throughout her career in advising health care and life sciences and other clients about preventing, investigating and defending EEOC, DOJ, OFCCP and other Civil Rights Act, Section 1557 and other HHS, HUD, banking, and other federal and state discrimination investigations, audits, lawsuits and other enforcement actions as well as advocacy before Congress and regulators regarding federal and state equal opportunity, equity and other laws. 

For more information about Ms. Stamer or her health industry and other experience and involvements, see www.cynthiastamer.com or contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 452-8297 or via e-mail here. 

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