AFL-CIO Joins NIOSH Cuts Protests

The AFL-CIO has added its protest to Trump Administration job cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), claiming that “Firing the NIOSH workforce sets up a domino effect of serious and dangerous consequences.”
The statement comes as The Friends of NIOSH, an ad-hoc group of industry, labor, professional, education and scientific organizations, send a joint letter to the U.S. Congress, calling for the immediate reversal of the proposed cuts.
In a statement, the union claimed that on-the-job injuries and fatalities will only increase now that the government is firing the federal workers who make workplaces safer.
Some two-thirds of workers at NIOSH are being laid off, according to media reports and information from the American Federation of Government Workers (AFGE) Local 1916 Union, which represents workers at Washington State NIOSH offices.
The International Safety Equipment Association called the layoffs “unprecedented,” noting that it would “dismantle the only federal laboratory responsible for certifying respirators used by more than 50 million American workers”.
“We are closely monitoring these probable agency changes, knowing they would have lasting effects on workplace safety, industry innovation and worker well-being,” said Pam Walaski, president of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).

Caterpillar is challenging more than $30,000 in OSHA fines stemming from two violations assessed against the equipment maker after the death of an employee last June.
Daulton Simmers’ death was the third in two years at the Mapleton, Illinois foundry and one of four in that period at a Peoria-area Caterpillar facility.
OSHA said that Caterpillar failed to ensure that the workspace was free of fire hazards that could cause death or serious injury and that it had failed to ensure a suitable fall protection system was used.
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Plans for a $110 million new headquarters for Cincinnati-area operations of NIOSH now appear in jeopardy, local media reported.
The long-planned project was first proposed in 2006 and approved by multiple governmental offices since then.
Asked about the plans for the new 14-acre facility, local union official Micah Niemeier-Walsh said “I assume if there’s no NIOSH, there’s probably no new building.”
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Ahead of Spring tornado season, OSHA said it is working with weather agency NOAA to help businesses and their workers prepare for tornadoes, and to provide information about hazards that workers may face in the aftermath of a tornado.
The agencies said businesses should develop an emergency plan that should include details on suitable places to take shelter, policies to ensure all personnel are accounted for, and procedures for addressing any hazardous materials that are on-site.
The updated website noted that employers are required to protect workers from the anticipated hazards associated with the response and recovery operations that workers are likely to conduct.
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