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Scientific American
3 days ago
- Business
- Scientific American
Government Layoffs Could Make It Easier to Scrap Heat Safety Rules
CLIMATEWIRE | When federal regulators were crafting a first-ever proposal to protect workers from extreme heat, they relied on government health experts who had been working on the deadly effects of high temperatures for years. Now that entire team is gone due to President Donald Trump's personnel purges. It comes ahead of summertime heat waves that are intensifying because of climate change, raising the stakes for the 2024 draft heat rule that took decades to propose and whose fate now rests in the hands of an administration that is eviscerating climate programs. Extreme heat kills more U.S. residents annually than all other disasters. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. The heat experts have been fired, placed on leave or forced out at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency, called NIOSH, was the first one to sound the alarm on the dangers that heat poses to workers. It recommended safety regulations in 1975, decades before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed the nation's first heat rule last year. The entire heat team at NIOSH was pushed out of the agency this spring, along with hundreds of experts who were studying other issues, as part of a massive reorganization at the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The layoffs, which take effect this week, come as climate change supercharges temperatures, blanketing the nation in suffocating heat every summer. The personnel purge could also hamstring OSHA at the Department of Labor, as the agency considers whether to move forward with finalizing the heat rule under Trump or ditch it. Preserving it promises to be harder without the heat experts. 'The ability to reach out to experts and work together and solve problems and keep people safe in an efficient manner — that's not going to be possible when you have an agency turned into Swiss cheese,' said Doug Parker, who led OSHA during the Biden administration. Lawsuits have brought back some NIOSH staffers who work mostly on coal mining and firefighting projects, or who test respirators and other personal protective equipment. Some of them have heat expertise in those industries. But most NIOSH heat experts — including those who work with the farming and construction sectors, which see the most heat-related deaths, and those who specifically examine heat as a hazard — have not returned to their jobs. The agency has also stopped all public communications on heat, just before summer threatens to bring suffocating temperatures. In the past, the agency would use social media campaigns and in-person presentations with employers to raise awareness about the dangers of heat. None of that has happened. Its social media accounts have been silent since April 1, when HHS told its workforce of the layoffs. 'If it stays the way it is right now, no one is going to be doing heat,' said one NIOSH worker who came back to the agency after being laid off and was granted anonymity to speak frankly. 'Very open line of communication' Congress created NIOSH in 1970 — by passing the same law that enacted OSHA — to 'develop and establish' safety standard recommendations for regulators. NIOSH had the experts, and OSHA had the regulators. In the 50 years since the agency initially advocated for a heat safety standard, it has made similar recommendations two other times, most recently in 2016. Because NIOSH has been at the forefront of identifying heat as a danger to workers, its experts have also been the preeminent researchers on the issue. The agency has conducted research into how electrolyte drinks compare to water when rehydrating workers and how protective equipment can make workers hotter than if they were only exposed to ambient air. It has also helped determine how to measure what heat truly feels like in work environments. When OSHA finally proposed national heat protections last summer, it cited its sister agency's work more than 250 times. The regulation would require employers to provide water and rest breaks to workers when heat rises above 80 degrees and paid rest breaks when temperatures exceed 90 degrees. 'We had a very open line of communication to discuss any questions they had while working on the regulation,' said one NIOSH worker who was laid off and was granted anonymity to speak frankly. Almost every aspect of the proposed rule has a citation that leads back to NIOSH, from the definitions of heat stress, to the explanation of how heat affects the human body, to a description about how hydration helps prevent heat-related dangers. 'We really fostered a strong relationship with NIOSH and it was at a peak level, so it is a tragedy what has happened,' said Parker, the former OSHA leader. As the layoffs take effect this week, it could complicate OSHA's consideration of the heat rule. In mid-June, the agency is scheduled to hold a weekslong hearing to let the public weigh in on the draft regulation. Normally, when worker advocates and industry representatives testify at OSHA hearings, agency staff is able to ask follow-up questions that can help shape the outcome. It's unclear if NIOSH experts — those who still have jobs — will testify at the hearing. Neither HHS nor the CDC responded to questions about expert testimony. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Kennedy "has been working hard to ensure that the critical functions under NIOSH remain intact." "The Trump administration is committed to supporting coal miners and firefighters, and under the secretary's leadership, NIOSH's essential services will continue as HHS streamlines its operations," she said. "Ensuring the health and safety of our workforce remains a top priority for the department." 'They are neutral' Parker said holding a public hearing, and continuing the heat rulemaking, without NIOSH experts would be like prosecutors trying to convict a murderer without having the testimony of a medical examiner. 'It's like going to trial without your expert witness,' he said. 'They are neutral; they help review not only the content of the rule, but the comments of other advocates and industries. It's a well you can go to again and again.' Jordan Barab, former deputy assistant secretary of OSHA during the Obama administration, said NIOSH is a helpful resource when industry and worker groups provide conflicting information. The laws governing OSHA say it can only issue rules to protect workers that are also practical and cost-effective for employers, which means the agency has to be able to justify every aspect of a regulation. Most end up in court. 'If they have two opposing opinions and their rule is agreeing with one, they need to carefully explain why they chose what they did, and they spend an enormous amount of time justifying their rules, often with the help of NIOSH expertise and research,' Barab said. Rebecca Reindel, safety and health director at the AFL-CIO, said she is worried that without NIOSH testimony OSHA will be more likely to kill the heat rule. The agency has been under pressure from industry groups to stop work on the rule or water down its protections. The oil and gas industry has said moving forward on the rule would jeopardize Trump's vision of achieving 'energy dominance.' NIOSH's testimony, she said, would be important to counteract that narrative. 'When you have industry groups saying 'we don't want this' or 'it's too expensive,' you want that neutral party that has actually done the research into what interventions work and that knows of how they have been successfully deployed in other workplaces,' Reindel said. 'Without NIOSH experts at this hearing, we lose a very critical part of the testimony and a part of the record we need to ensure that OSHA does regulate this hazard and uses the best available evidence and information.'
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Trump fired the heat experts. Now he might kill their heat rule.
When federal regulators were crafting a first-ever proposal to protect workers from extreme heat, they relied on government health experts who had been working on the deadly effects of high temperatures for years. Now that entire team is gone due to President Donald Trump's personnel purges. It comes ahead of summertime heat waves that are intensifying because of climate change, raising the stakes for the 2024 draft heat rule that took decades to propose and whose fate now rests in the hands of an administration that is eviscerating climate programs. Extreme heat kills more U.S. residents annually than all other disasters. Advertisement The heat experts have been fired, placed on leave or forced out at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency, called NIOSH, was the first one to sound the alarm on the dangers that heat poses to workers. It recommended safety regulations in 1975, decades before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed the nation's first heat rule last year. The entire heat team at NIOSH was pushed out of the agency this spring, along with hundreds of experts who were studying other issues, as part of a massive reorganization at the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The layoffs, which take effect this week, come as climate change supercharges temperatures, blanketing the nation in suffocating heat every summer. The personnel purge could also hamstring OSHA at the Department of Labor, as the agency considers whether to move forward with finalizing the heat rule under Trump or ditch it. Preserving it promises to be harder without the heat experts. 'The ability to reach out to experts and work together and solve problems and keep people safe in an efficient manner — that's not going to be possible when you have an agency turned into Swiss cheese,' said Doug Parker, who led OSHA during the Biden administration. Firefighter Geo Mulongo drinks water while taking a break during the Line Fire in Highland, California, last year. | Jae C. Hong/AP Lawsuits have brought back some NIOSH staffers who work mostly on coal mining and firefighting projects, or who test respirators and other personal protective equipment. Some of them have heat expertise in those industries. But most NIOSH heat experts — including those who work with the farming and construction sectors, which see the most heat-related deaths, and those who specifically examine heat as a hazard — have not returned to their jobs. The agency has also stopped all public communications on heat, just before summer threatens to bring suffocating temperatures. In the past, the agency would use social media campaigns and in-person presentations with employers to raise awareness about the dangers of heat. None of that has happened. Its social media accounts have been silent since April 1, when HHS told its workforce of the layoffs. 'If it stays the way it is right now, no one is going to be doing heat,' said one NIOSH worker who came back to the agency after being laid off and was granted anonymity to speak frankly. 'Very open line of communication' Congress created NIOSH in 1970 — by passing the same law that enacted OSHA — to 'develop and establish' safety standard recommendations for regulators. NIOSH had the experts, and OSHA had the regulators. In the 50 years since the agency initially advocated for a heat safety standard, it has made similar recommendations two other times, most recently in 2016. Because NIOSH has been at the forefront of identifying heat as a danger to workers, its experts have also been the preeminent researchers on the issue. The agency has conducted research into how electrolyte drinks compare to water when rehydrating workers and how protective equipment can make workers hotter than if they were only exposed to ambient air. It has also helped determine how to measure what heat truly feels like in work environments. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seen here with President Donald Trump, is overseeing mass layoffs this week at the Department of Health and Human Services. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP When OSHA finally proposed national heat protections last summer, it cited its sister agency's work more than 250 times. The regulation would require employers to provide water and rest breaks to workers when heat rises above 80 degrees and paid rest breaks when temperatures exceed 90 degrees. 'We had a very open line of communication to discuss any questions they had while working on the regulation,' said one NIOSH worker who was laid off and was granted anonymity to speak frankly. Almost every aspect of the proposed rule has a citation that leads back to NIOSH, from the definitions of heat stress, to the explanation of how heat affects the human body, to a description about how hydration helps prevent heat-related dangers. 'We really fostered a strong relationship with NIOSH and it was at a peak level, so it is a tragedy what has happened,' said Parker, the former OSHA leader. As the layoffs take effect this week, it could complicate OSHA's consideration of the heat rule. In mid-June, the agency is scheduled to hold a weekslong hearing to let the public weigh in on the draft regulation. Normally, when worker advocates and industry representatives testify at OSHA hearings, agency staff is able to ask follow-up questions that can help shape the outcome. It's unclear if NIOSH experts — those who still have jobs — will testify at the hearing. Neither HHS nor the CDC responded to questions about expert testimony. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Kennedy 'has been working hard to ensure that the critical functions under NIOSH remain intact.' 'The Trump administration is committed to supporting coal miners and firefighters, and under the secretary's leadership, NIOSH's essential services will continue as HHS streamlines its operations,' she said. 'Ensuring the health and safety of our workforce remains a top priority for the department.' 'They are neutral' Parker said holding a public hearing, and continuing the heat rulemaking, without NIOSH experts would be like prosecutors trying to convict a murderer without having the testimony of a medical examiner. 'It's like going to trial without your expert witness,' he said. 'They are neutral; they help review not only the content of the rule, but the comments of other advocates and industries. It's a well you can go to again and again.' Jordan Barab, former deputy assistant secretary of OSHA during the Obama administration, said NIOSH is a helpful resource when industry and worker groups provide conflicting information. The laws governing OSHA say it can only issue rules to protect workers that are also practical and cost-effective for employers, which means the agency has to be able to justify every aspect of a regulation. Most end up in court. 'If they have two opposing opinions and their rule is agreeing with one, they need to carefully explain why they chose what they did, and they spend an enormous amount of time justifying their rules, often with the help of NIOSH expertise and research,' Barab said. Rebecca Reindel, safety and health director at the AFL-CIO, said she is worried that without NIOSH testimony OSHA will be more likely to kill the heat rule. The agency has been under pressure from industry groups to stop work on the rule or water down its protections. The oil and gas industry has said moving forward on the rule would jeopardize Trump's vision of achieving 'energy dominance.' NIOSH's testimony, she said, would be important to counteract that narrative. 'When you have industry groups saying 'we don't want this' or 'it's too expensive,' you want that neutral party that has actually done the research into what interventions work and that knows of how they have been successfully deployed in other workplaces,' Reindel said. 'Without NIOSH experts at this hearing, we lose a very critical part of the testimony and a part of the record we need to ensure that OSHA does regulate this hazard and uses the best available evidence and information.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's safety research cuts heighten workplace risks, federal workers warn
Drastic cuts at a federal workplace safety research agency increase the risk of illness and injury for workers across the US and undermine preparations for public health emergencies, fired employees warn. The Trump administration ordered widespread layoffs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when it issued a 'reduction in force' notice to some 85% of the agency's 1,100 workers employees on 1 April. While some of those terminations were later reversed following pushback from labor unions and the public, only 328 employees were reinstated. Related: 'So many are devastated': Trump's federal firings and their ripple effect 'An immediate impact is that we're not as prepared for some type of public health emergency,' said Dr Micah Niemeier-Walsh, an industrial hygienist at Niosh in Ohio, who was fired, and then reinstated. 'Long term, the Trump administration talks about wanting to bring back or expand certain sectors of the economy like mining or manufacturing. Those are jobs that really rely on Niosh work.' Jennica Bellanca, for example, worked to train emergency responders in mining in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her role was terminated. 'It's such a hard thing. Everyone here works so hard to help support the health and safety of mine workers and other workers,' she said, noting that small companies do not have the resources to invest in alternative safety programs. 'I'm just concerned that nobody else is going to fill this gap. There's a reason that the government provides this safety net. 'In our case, the safety net is to help workers go home to their families every day and make sure that nothing bad happens.' Bellanca questioned a central argument for the cuts – efficiency in federal government spending – by noting that long-term research projects may now go unreleased. When we're gone, there's going to be nobody to get this information out Jennica Bellanca, former trainer for emergency responders 'When we're gone, there's going to be nobody to get this information out,' she said. 'And because we were so abruptly, sort of cut off in the middle of projects, all of this work that we've done, we're not able to get this out, released, as a full public product. In my mind, that's a waste of government money.' Niemeier-Walsh, the vice-president of American Federal of Government Employees Local 3840, said the reduction in force was the 'final, massive blow to our work' after earlier limitations on travel, communications and remote work imposed since Donald Trump took office in January. 'Our ability to be as successful as we have been as an institute relies on the rest of the Niosh employees coming back because our work is so interconnected,' said Niemeier-Walsh. 'I'm very, very concerned what this means for every single American worker if we're not able to fully restore Niosh. These cuts are not based in science. They're not based on the public health need. They're based on politics, and that's bad for the health of the American people.' Related: Mass resignations at labor department threaten workers in US and overseas, warn staff – as more cuts loom She cited as an example the employees in the health hazard evaluation program, which was established to reduce workplace risks and recommend ways to mitigate dangers, who were reinstated after earlier cuts. But they rely on chemists to develop analytical methods to measure chemicals in the workplace, and engineers to design solutions; these chemists and engineers have not been reinstated, she said. Since the agency was founded in 1970, recordable workplace illnesses and injuries and fatalities have been drastically reduced in the US. The rate of non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses declined from 10.9 cases per 100 full-time workers in 1972 to 2.4 in 2023. The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, and several other labor unions filed a lawsuit this month to restore the cut programs at Niosh, arguing the cuts 'directly threaten the lives of workers whose safety and health depend on Niosh' services that are congressionally mandated. Even though some of the initial cuts have been reversed,'we have deep concerns that the whole reason Niosh was started to begin with is still eliminated,' said Rebecca Reindel, the director of occupational safety and health at the AFL-CIO, who noted that the agency's founding mandate was to assure every man and woman in the US has safe and healthful working conditions. Reindel expressed particular concern about disruption to long-term research projects. Related: US workers feel effects of Trump cuts: 'I am seeing my work dry up' 'All of this research work that they do, where they have these big cohorts, they've been following people for 40 years,' she said. 'And now they're just cut off for these occupational prospective cohorts, where they follow them over years to see what kind of diseases are developing. 'If we're just staffing those cohorts now, we're really losing 40 years worth of work. Even if they restart them, we're going to have lost so many people to follow up.' A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services did not comment on the record. Its secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, was working to ensure Niosh critical services remain intact and continue as the agency streamlines its operations, they claimed.
Washington Post
14-05-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Judge orders reinstatement of workers in health program for coal miners
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of nearly 200 fired federal workers who screen coal miners for black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust. U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger issued a preliminary injunction that compels the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to bring back the workers in the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program. Berger said Trump administration officials 'lack the authority to unilaterally cancel' the screening program, which was mandated by the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. She ordered the program to be fully restored, with 'no pause, stoppage or gap in the protections and services.' Under the screening program, coal miners can receive free and confidential chest X-rays to determine whether their lung tissue is damaged. Those who are diagnosed with black lung can transfer to a less dusty part of the mine without a pay cut, and they can apply for federal compensation for medical treatments and prescription drugs. The screening program offers contracts to radiologists across the country who are certified to evaluate X-rays for black lung. It also employs epidemiologists who recently concluded that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia has black lung — the highest level recorded in 25 years. On April 1, the Trump administration fired most of the staff working on the program as part of massive layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, The Washington Post previously reported. Many staffers were placed on administrative leave and told of their termination effective June 2. On April 30, the administration temporarily reinstated 30 to 40 of the fired workers until June 2. Then, last week, Berger heard testimony from two West Virginia coal miners with black lung, who urged the judge to permanently restore the workers' jobs. After Berger's ruling, the fired NIOSH workers received an email late Tuesday saying their 'reduction in force' notices were rescinded. 'You previously received a notice regarding the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) upcoming reduction in force (RIF),' said the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Post. 'That notice is hereby revoked. You will not be affected by the upcoming RIF.' Berger's decision comes as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to testify Wednesday before the House and Senate about President Donald Trump's budget proposal, which calls for deeply slashing spending for many federal health programs. Asked for comment on the ruling, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email: 'Secretary Kennedy has been working hard to ensure that the critical functions under NIOSH remain intact. The Trump Administration is committed to supporting coal miners and firefighters, and under the Secretary's leadership, NIOSH's essential services will continue as HHS streamlines its operations.' Sam Petsonk, a lawyer for the West Virginia coal miners with black lung, praised the decision but urged the administration to abandon other cuts to health programs across Appalachia. 'I'm glad to see the Administration already taking some initial steps in the direction of complying with the order,' Petsonk said in an email. 'America's coal miners deserve nothing less, and in fact they deserve a heck of a lot more.' The order, he added, 'represents one very significant reversal of Trump's unconstitutional abandonment of Appalachia, but hopefully not the last.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Coal miners lose black lung screenings after Trump slashes NIOSH
Morgantown, West Virginia — In West Virginia's coal country, Marion Tennant says he was destined to work in the mines. "That was the only thing in this area when I graduated high school," Tennant said. That was in 1974, when Tennant was protected by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH. For decades it offered free screenings for black lung, a chronic disease caused by prolonged exposure to coal dust. But the screenings have stopped because of President Trump's mandated budget cuts. Tennant says he's worried for the younger workers. "What's going to happen, I'm afraid, is your young ones, before they realize what they've done to their body, they're gonna have black lung, and the numbers is going to rise," Tennant said. Catherine Blackwood was a PhD scientist at the NIOSH facility in Morgantown, West Virginia, where she studied the dangers of mold exposure. "I'm angry that we are just being cast aside," Blackwood said. Her job was eliminated April 1, along with over 200 others at the facility — from the people who oversee mine safety to those who study cancer-causing chemicals in firefighters. "I'm really worried and fearful about what the impacts are going to be on the rest of us," Blackwood said. And it's not just about Morgantown. "Every single person faces different hazards at their work every day. And without NIOSH, I think that we are all in danger," Blackwood said. Although some roles were temporarily reinstated in recent days, the Trump administration still plans to terminate all staff in the coming months, leaving the future of the health screenings and other programs in doubt. When asked about the cuts to crucial programs, a Health and Human Services spokesperson said in part: "The department remains focused on cutting wasteful bureaucracy and eliminating duplicative administrative roles." But Blackwood says, "The work being done at NIOSH was not wasteful. It was not duplicative. It was not redundant. The research that was being done at NIOSH was being done nowhere else in the world." West Virginia isn't only coal country — it's Trump country. He won the state in 2024 with 70% of the vote. Tennant, now retired, says he didn't vote for former Vice President Kamala Harris or Mr. Trump. "He's looking at the coal-fired power plants, but he's also doing away with NIOSH that helps the safety of the coal miners," Tennant said. The budget for NIOSH was about $363 million in 2023, the same year that job injuries and illnesses cost Americans around $176 billion, according to the National Safety Council. Without NIOSH, officials say that number could be higher. "I don't think it's hyperbole to say that eviscerating NIOSH, as they have, will cause people to die," Blackwood said. Sneak peek: The Depraved Heart Murder Why Hegseth is calling for cuts to senior ranks across U.S. military Reporter's Notebook: Who pays for tariffs?
