A Look at Federal and State Safety Regulations in 2026 with Zach Pucillo
Wed Jan 14 2026
In this episode of The Safety Meeting, we kick off 2026 with our annual regulatory outlook with Zach Pucillo, EHS Regulatory Compliance Manager at KPA. Zach provides insights into the evolving landscape of workplace safety regulations, technology trends, and compliance priorities for 2026. We review the previous year's predictions, developments, and the regulatory shifts that occurred in 2025 and look ahead to the coming year. Key topics include federal deregulation moves, state-led safety initiatives, AI in safety management, and areas for safety professionals to focus on this year to stay compliant and keep their people safe.
(00:51) 2025 Regulatory Recap and Predictions for 2026(02:13) Federal Deregulation and State-Level Actions(08:44) EPA's Greenhouse Gas Rollbacks and State Responses(15:03) Heat Illness Prevention and State Regulations(18:34) Industry-Specific Regulatory Changes for 2026(21:49) The Role of AI in Safety Management(26:03) Key Areas for Safety Managers in 2026(29:10) Final Thoughts
Thanks for joining another episode of The Safety Meeting, the podcast that makes you smarter about current trends and best practices in workforce safety. From employee engagement to actionable data, and everything in between, tune in to hear how you can work more safely.
If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to The Safety Meeting in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps others find the show.
Podcast episode production by Dante32.
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In this episode of The Safety Meeting, we kick off 2026 with our annual regulatory outlook with Zach Pucillo, EHS Regulatory Compliance Manager at KPA. Zach provides insights into the evolving landscape of workplace safety regulations, technology trends, and compliance priorities for 2026. We review the previous year's predictions, developments, and the regulatory shifts that occurred in 2025 and look ahead to the coming year. Key topics include federal deregulation moves, state-led safety initiatives, AI in safety management, and areas for safety professionals to focus on this year to stay compliant and keep their people safe. (00:51) 2025 Regulatory Recap and Predictions for 2026(02:13) Federal Deregulation and State-Level Actions(08:44) EPA's Greenhouse Gas Rollbacks and State Responses(15:03) Heat Illness Prevention and State Regulations(18:34) Industry-Specific Regulatory Changes for 2026(21:49) The Role of AI in Safety Management(26:03) Key Areas for Safety Managers in 2026(29:10) Final Thoughts Thanks for joining another episode of The Safety Meeting, the podcast that makes you smarter about current trends and best practices in workforce safety. From employee engagement to actionable data, and everything in between, tune in to hear how you can work more safely. If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to The Safety Meeting in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps others find the show. Podcast episode production by Dante32.