Shutdown halts OSHA informal conferences; inspections continue

Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections will continue during the federal government shutdown, but rulemaking and other processes, including informal conferences between employers and officials, have been halted, legal experts say.

The conferences, which occur between employers and OSHA officials after a citation is issued, ceased after Congress failed to pass funding legislation for 2026, furloughing many federal workers and shutting down many government operations.

Under OSHA rules, at the request of an affected employer, employee or representative of employees, an assistant regional director may hold an informal conference “to discuss any issues raised by an inspection, citation, notice of proposed penalty or notice of intention to contest.” Such proceedings are used to negotiate settlements with the agency or provide or extend abatement after an alleged violation.

“The fact that the area offices are not holding informal conferences is very significant, because the vast bulk of citation cases do not go to contest and do not get litigated,” said Andrew Brought, a Kansas City, Missouri-based attorney with Spencer Fane. He added that the agency is working with a “skeleton crew” and that statutory deadlines — such as the 15 days to contest a citation — still apply.

“This is a real challenge, as employers are not getting the opportunity to have an informal conference,” he said. As a result, employers have to agree to the citation or contest it and wait for the government to reopen.

At least 75% of OSHA staff were furloughed, leaving most of the work to area directors and assistant area directors, said John Ho, New York-based co-chair of the OSHA workplace safety practice at law firm Cozen O’Connor.

The OSHA employees still working are charged with inspecting imminent dangerous situations, serious violations, fatalities, whistleblower complaints and time-sensitive inspections, Mr. Ho said in an email.

OSHA spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.

There will likely be a backlog of complaints to address when the shutdown ends, said Peter Vassalo, Washington-based senior counsel at Littler and a former OSHA attorney.

“There are still mechanisms for people to report things to the agency that are referrals and non-formal complaints that are going to be backed up in the inboxes of everybody,” he said. “One thing employers should really understand is that this is only a temporary situation that we have right now. So, they should continue to comply” with workplace regulations.

Employers in states with state OSHA plans are not affected by the shutdown, Mr. Vassalo said. Twenty-nine states have their own OSHA plans in accordance with federal law.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development has opened an investigation into the Oct. 10 explosion at ammunition maker Accurate Energetic Systems that killed 16 people, a Tennessee OSHA spokesman confirmed.