OSHA leader nominee has strong roots in workforce

With a background in safety, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is likely to put workplace safety at the forefront with continued enforcement strategies, according to legal experts.

Yet, there are some concerns regarding David Keeling’s background at two companies with histories of safety violations.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Mr. Keeling, nominated for Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, had lead safety roles at United Parcel Service Inc. and Amazon Inc., where he most recently served as director of road and transportation safety before becoming an independent safety consultant in 2023, according to his LinkedIn account.

If confirmed, Mr. Keeling would succeed Doug Parker, the former head of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health who led OSHA from October 2021 until Mr. Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20.

There was no confirmed head of OSHA during Mr. Trump’s first administration. Scott Mugno, a former safety executive at FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., was chosen but withdrew his nomination in 2019 after Senate confirmation proceedings stalled.

Several organizations have endorsed Mr. Keeling, including the National Safety Council, which called him a “proven safety leader” and said his “real-world experience will be a boon” to OSHA.

Yet some public opposition has been voiced on social media, pointing out that Mr. Keeling led a safety group within Amazon, which has been the subject of state and federal investigations into allegedly unsafe warehouse conditions.

Heat safety is also of concern: In 2019, while Mr. Keeling worked as UPS’ vice president of global health and safety, OSHA cited the company for exposing its drivers to extreme heat.

The Teamsters for a Democratic Union posted on its website that it had concerns about Mr. Keeling’s association with two companies that have been accused of unsafe practices. A TDU staff director could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Keeling’s nomination comes at a time when OSHA has been tasked with creating several standards, including for violence in health care, infectious diseases and a standard to protect workers from extreme temperatures. Legal experts say it is unclear what the trajectory will be in the Trump administration with regards to standards, which take years to finalize.

Mr. Keeling, in a LinkedIn message to Business Insurance, said he couldn’t comment further than what he had posted on LinkedIn, in which he expressed “heartfelt gratitude to President Trump” for his nomination.

According to his work history, Mr. Keeling began his career at UPS working in operations. Some say this background will help him steer the agency should he be confirmed.

For OSHA, “it will be largely business as usual because you have an environmental health and safety professional with over two decades of experience, and he’s someone who has worked with businesses, with both the C-suite and with workers and everyone in between,” said Courtney Malveaux, Richmond, Virginia-based partner with McGuireWoods LLP. “I fully expect that he will apply that knowledge and those skills to lead OSHA.”’

Todd Logsdon, a partner in Fisher & Phillip LLP’s Louisville office and co-chair of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Practice Group, said Mr. Keeling is “going to have more practical, real-world experience than someone who’s never worked in any industry.”