NORA Cuts Seen Harming EMS Workers

June 25, 2025

 

 

Note: OSHA Today will take its annual summer break starting Monday, June 30, and resume daily publication on Monday, July 14. Happy Fourth of July to all of our valued subscribers!

 

NORA Cuts Seen Impacting EMS Workers

  • Job cuts at National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Public Safety Council are being described as a “critical blow” to EMS, or emergency medical services, workers.
  • The elimination of the NORA Public Safety Council comes as part of broader staffing cuts at NIOSH.
  • In a Monday op-ed in EMS World, Brian J Maguire, Dr.PH, MSA, EMT-P, and Daniel R. Gerard, MS, RN, NRP, warned that absent the council, the EMS community would see critical research stop and erosion of safety standards.
  • “The dismantling of the NORA Public Safety Council is not just an administrative change; it is a direct threat to the health and safety of EMS professionals and, by extension, the communities we serve,” they wrote.
  • Maguire is an epidemiologist with Leidos at the U.S. Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory in Connecticut.
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Teamsters Weigh in on OSHA Nominee Keeling

  • OSHA nominee David Keeling is seen by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as “someone we feel we are able to have a conversation with,” according to a New York Times report this morning.
  • The union has backed the nomination.
  • The report highlights Keeling’s previous health and safety roles at Amazon and UPS.
  • The article also cites a statement UPS that while it doesn’t take a position on individual nominations, the company values “collaboration with all public officials and regulators to ensure policies support a safe and efficient logistics industry.”
  • Both Amazon and UPS have lobbied against federal heat rules, according to the report.
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Penn State Sets 2 August Sessions for OSHA 10-Hour Training

  • Penn State University will offer in-person sessions for entry-level workers of the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Training in August.
  • The sessions will be held at the school’s DuBois campus, on Aug. 27-28, and Altoona campus on Aug. 18-19. The cost is $295.
  • The training program provides entry-level, general industry workers with information about their rights, employer responsibilities, and how to identify, abate, avoid, and prevent job-related hazards on a job site.
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