Unpaid Inspectors Keep Working Thru Shutdown

The Labor Department has required more than 950 employees at OSHA and MIOSH to keep working on duties deemed “necessary to protect life and property” without pay.
The unpaid work and frozen enforcements are magnifying pre-shutdown troubles of thin budgets and persistent vacancies, Politico reported.
“They face pretty chronic understaffing, and now we’re asking a smaller number of inspectors to work without pay,” said Jessica Martinez, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. “They’re dedicated public servants who believe in protecting workers’ lives — but they’re also human, with their own families and bills to attend to.”
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has warned in recent weeks about the risks of forcing employees to work without pay, saying the shutdown has left some DOL staff at risk of missing mortgage or car payments.
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Officials in Ontario are tracking a surge in fake occupational health and safety training certificates, after dozens of fraudulent credentials have been uncovered in recent weeks.
“We’re finding a lot of fake cards where workers are photocopying or producing these cards through use of the web and the Internet,” Roger Tickner, president of Tickner Brooks Professional Corporation, said. “They’re presenting these cards as though they’re being trained.”
The Canadian province’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development confirmed that it is an offense to knowingly provide false information to a ministry inspector, including a false training record or certificate.
“The ministry reviews and investigates all reports of fraudulent safety certificates. Inspectors make enforcement decisions based on the conditions and evidence found at each workplace. Individuals convicted of knowingly providing false information may face fines of up to $500,000, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both,” the ministry stated.
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Next month’s campaigns like No Shave November and Movember raise safety challenges in laboratory environments where respirator use is often required.
For lab professionals who wear tight-fitting respirators, beards and stubble can interfere with the mask’s seal, reducing protection against hazardous substances, industry outlet Lab Manager reports.
For lab leaders, November offers an opportunity to revisit how safety programs accommodate individual differences. An inclusive safety culture considers not just regulatory compliance but also the diverse backgrounds and needs of laboratory personnel.
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