When David Keeling, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), addressed nearly 150 transportation construction professionals at the National Work Zone Management Conference in Reston, Virginia, in late October 2026, he talked about an evolving role for OSHA.
As the agency started hiring over the last few months following a multiyear hiring freeze, “We have a new group coming in and they see things a little differently,” Keeling said. “I don’t think many of our people got into their jobs to be a police officer. What they got into the job to do is to make a difference in getting people home at the end of the day. They came in more to be a safety consultant than wanting to be a cop.”
He mentioned an adage that it would take OSHA 200 years to visit all the work sites. His goal: “We could use those 2,000 OSHA people to amplify the voices of [more than] 175,000 safety professionals in this country. If we get 200,000 people moving in the same direction, saying the same thing, giving the same message, that’s how we turn work zone safety [into reality].”
Keeling noted that less than 20 of the more than 5,000 people who died on the job in 2024 would’ve been covered under traditional OSHA oversight. While regulations establish expectations, he reflected on the impact of effective programs, proactive leadership, and meaningful actions to ultimately save lives.
To make critical progress in protecting workers, “I think it’s about communication and education,” he said. “Anybody out there who’s got something that they want to propose, we’re listening; something we can help push forward, we’re listening.”
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He explained that he doesn’t see OSHA regulating away the problem but helping amplify the efforts of states and other organizations, such as those implementing work zone safety programs for teen drivers.
“We can help publicize; we can help promote,” he said. “OSHA wants to be engaged and wants to be involved in that.”
Photos courtesy of ARTBA
