Washington — OSHA’s efforts to address and prevent workplace violence will get a closer look from the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
According to DOL OIG’s fiscal year 2026 workplan, the office’s planned audit on the subject will be the first for OSHA in 25 years. In a September 2001 report, DOL OIG stated that OSHA:
- Could take additional steps to address workplace violence issues.
- Needed to assess its training and outreach efforts on workplace violence prevention.
- Needed to develop a recordkeeping system for information related to workplace violence.
The workplan states that of the 5,486 fatal workplace injuries recorded in 2022, 849 (15.5%) were cases of “intentional injury by another person.”
In DOL’s most recent regulatory agenda, published in September, OSHA’s potential standard on workplace violence in health care and social assistance was listed under “long-term actions,” meaning no progress on the rulemaking was expected for at least six months – and likely longer.
For the Mine Safety and Health Administration, DOL OIG is planning two discretionary audits, which take place with funds remaining “after we commit resources to all mandatory audits.”
One of the discretionary audits is already in progress. It concerns mine rescue response plans.
“Prior OIG work found MSHA had not provided adequate oversight of mine emergency response plans, which included planning by both mine operators and MSHA,” the workplan states. “This audit will assess MSHA’s preparedness in responding to emergencies requiring mine rescue operations.”
The other audit will cover MSHA grant programs, including the Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety Grants. It will assess whether the agency “properly designed and executed the grant programs and established sufficient internal controls within its grant recipient reporting system(s) to help ensure programmatic success.”
