President Trump has nominated the head of safety at a large corporation to be the next person in charge of OSHA. What do we know about nominee, Scott Mugno?
Mugno has been the Vice President for Safety, Sustainability and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground since 2011. He joined FedEx in 1994 as a senior attorney for domestic regulatory affairs. From 2000 to 2011, Mugno was managing director of corporate safety, health and fire prevention for FedEx Express.
As VP and managing director, Scott’s responsibilities included developing, promoting and facilitating the safety and health program and culture. He leads four departments with about 200 professionals as VP.
Also on Mugno’s resume:
- He’s chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce OSHA subcommittee
- He’s chairman of the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) Research Advisory Committee, and
- He serves on committees dealing with occupational safety and health for the American Bar Association, American Trucking Associations, and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
“Scott has always shown a commitment not only to safety, but to using good data and input to determine how best to improve safety,” said ATRI President Rebecca Brewster.
In a 2006 Business Insurance article, Mugno is quoted as saying employee health factors such as obesity impact health and safety in the workplace.
Mugno was also quoted in the article as favoring sun-setting of certain OSHA regulations. “We’ve got to free OSHA from its own statutory and regulatory handcuffs,” Mugno said.
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Mugno. The committee is chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). The ranking member is Sen. Patty Murray (D-OR). Mugno will also need confirmation from the full Senate.
OSHA has been without a politically appointed Deputy Secretary since David Michaels, appointed by President Obama, stepped down from the post in January.
Since July, Loren Sweatt has been the politically appointed No. 2 person at OSHA (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA), and running the agency day-to-day. The No. 2 slot doesn’t require Senate approval. From January to July, career government employees ran OSHA.
