180° Turn as Agencies Reinstate Safety Workers

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) said Tuesday that some NIOSH programs focused on firefighter health and safety will be restored following a “misinterpreted executive order” that resulted in dozens of layoffs to programs like the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, and the World Trade Center Health Program.
“It was explained to me that the Reduction in Force (RIF) ordered by a White House Executive Order was misinterpreted by ‘mid-level bureaucrats’,” IAFF President Ed Kelly said in a media advisory.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. later posted on X that “Firefighter health and safety programs remain a top priority for @HHSgov. As the agency continues to streamline its operations, critical services of NIOSH will remain intact.”
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The Trump administration on Tuesday temporarily reinstated dozens of fired federal employees who help screen coal miners for black lung disease.
Earlier this month, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health suspended the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.
West Virginia U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) who lobbied for the restatement at the program’s Morgantown office, said between 30 and 40 fired NIOSH employees would be temporarily brought back to the agency.
The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3430 — the union that represents workers at that office said these employees would be reinstated until June 2.
After that date, the union said, the workers would still be fired via “reduction in force” notices.
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission announced on X.com Monday that its sole commissioner, Chair Cynthia Attwood, was retiring.
Her third term expired April 27.
The review commission docket shows 32 cases still unresolved.
At least two sitting commissioners are required to make a final decision in those cases.
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Despite finding that six of Pennsylvania’s state agencies had relatively lower injury rates compared to employees of OSHA-covered private sector employers during the 2022 calendar year, a union representing public sector workers said the findings are “no excuse” for the lack of a plan to cover the Commonwealth’s workers.
The Pennsylvania Office of Administration’s study focused on six of the Commonwealth’s 72 agencies, which were chosen by the OA because they accounted for 94.3% of the work-related injury claims.
“This study is no excuse for the continued lack of a state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) plan for Pennsylvania’s public sector employees – a disparity that continues to degrade and threaten the well-being of hundreds of thousands of workers,” AFSCME Council 13 said.
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