The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration may have a tougher job monitoring workplace safety in Texas due to a reported 4 percent decline in the number of OSHA inspectors across the country. Data reported from the Office of Personnel Management showed that the first year of the Trump Administration has seen a loss of 40 inspectors to attrition, who have not yet been replaced. OSHA’s total health and safety inspection force was 1,000 workers strong as of 2016.
The mission of OSHA is fulfilled through a system of federal safety laws and regulations that can require employers to receive citations for violations, pay fines and take steps to prevent worker injuries and illness. OSHA was chartered in 1970 through the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s enactment during the Nixon Administration to help prevent accidents from occurring at workplaces. The OSH Act ensures that recognized hazards that threaten the safety or health of employees at workplaces are removed with OSHA as its administration and enforcement arm. An injured worker may also pursue compensation after a work accident under the law.
OSHA is not the only federal department to lose staff as of October 2, 2017. President Donald J. Trump campaigned during the 2016 election to perform “tremendous cutting” of government services, including those that protect workers on the job. After almost a year in office, the president has overseen the disappearance of more than 16,000 federal jobs. Thus far, the Departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and the Interior have been the only ones to escape the pruning of positions.
Workplace safety is a right. People who have experienced on-the-job accidents that caused injuries may seek relief through the advice and assistance of an attorney that is skilled in litigation aimed at holding employers responsible for lost wages, pain and suffering and more.
Source: United States Department of Labor, ‘All About OSHA,” Accessed 1/15/1018