Federal watchdog Osha has cut workplace safety inspectors to the lowest level in its 48-year history under Trump administration Construction workers labor on a building on the west side of Manhattan in New York on 30 January 2018. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images A number of workplace safety
A number of workplace safety advocates fear fatalities will soar as Trump cuts back on the federal work safety watchdog Occupation Safety and Health Administration .
In 2016, 815 federal workplace inspectors were employed by Osha down from nearly 1,000 in 2010 after years of budget cutting by a GOP-controlled Congress. Now, through attrition and a federal hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration, only 752 inspectors are employed. With a small budget of approximately $550m even during the height of Obama years, workplace safety advocates calculated that Osha only had the resources to inspect every workplace once every 129 years. Now with even less inspectors, Osha would need 165 years to visit every workplace in America.
“We can definitely tell that there are changes when we meet with Osha,” said Marianela Acuña-Arreaza, executive director of Fe y Justicia Worker Center in Houston, where 101 workers were killed on the job last year. “There is definitely a shift in priorities. The policies that they make have consequences and they can literally be measured in lives lost”.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump is shelving plans to open virtually all federal waters to offshore drillingTrump administration puts expansion on hold after a federal judge shot down its attempt to overturn President Obama's Arctic drilling ban.
Read more »
Trump ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort sent to minimum security federal prison camp in Pa.Manafort was sentenced to 7½ years in the Mueller probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Read more »
Herman Cain withdraws from consideration for Federal Reserve Board, Trump saysFour Republican senators came out against the nomination, making confirmation of the former GOP presidential candidate doubtful.
Read more »
Cain has asked not to be nominated to the Fed, Trump saysHerman Cain has asked not to be nominated for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, said President Donald Trump in a tweet on Monday. Cain 'has asked me...
Read more »
Paul Manafort is now in federal prisonSentenced in two separate cases in March, Manafort is serving 7.5 years for fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy.
Read more »
Trump's Fed nominees: Cain drops out, Moore defends his 'spoof' about womenTwo men Donald Trump had touted for the Federal Reserve Board of Directors face scrutiny.
Read more »
After Trump tweet, UK spy agency says claim it spied on Trump is 'utterly ridiculous'Trump on Wednesday tweeted that a former CIA analyst, Larry Johnson, had accused Britain of spying on the Trump campaign.
Read more »
Analysis | Jared Kushner’s remarkably unremarkable effort to downplay Russian interferenceAnalysis: Jared Kushner’s remarkably unremarkable effort to downplay Russian interference
Read more »