Journalists, no matter what you might think or might have heard, really don’t have all the answers… but we sure have a lot of questions. We find out what’s going on out there in the real world, and we ask people in the know why it’s happening, and then—especially for those of us in the business media—we ask what it all means for our readers.
Lately, there has been a LOT of news about the Trump administration’s regulatory (or should that be deregulatory?) actions as they affect workplace safety. Of course, all news is subject to interpretation, depending on the agendas of the media sources reporting it, and it’s not always clear as to whether a specific action will benefit or hurt the promotion of occupational health and safety… or maybe it won’t have any impact at all, which is another distinct possibility.
Rather than picking sides, we did what we do best: We asked safety professionals what they thought. In a recent online poll that we sent out this past spring, we asked our readers a couple pulse-taking questions to get a better idea as to how the EHS community was reacting to the safety-oriented actions coming out of Washington. We heard from over 800 readers, and many of them took us up on the chance to also add their own comments after answering the quiz questions. For the record, here’s how the polling results went:
Do you think the Trump Administration will have a positive effect on OSHA?
56% said No, 31% said Yes, and 13% said Don’t Know.
Do you think the Trump Administration will have a positive effect on EPA?
61% said No, 29% said Yes, and 10% said Don’t Know.
Do you think the Trump Administration will have a positive effect on workplace safety overall?
60% said No, 28% said Yes, and 12% said Don’t Know.
Just as interesting as the poll results were the comments, a representative sampling of which are below:
We are going to lose 20+ years of hard work protecting the workers of the United States and we’ll have to start all over at some point in the future.
The Trump administration will bring back “common sense” oversight to OSHA, assisting companies to be safer with tools and expertise, instead of pushing punitive action and overreaching, as it’s been the last few years.
Nothing that the Trump administration has done is for the betterment of society. It is just another attempt to cut regulations with a chainsaw.
I don't feel we need new policies for existing regulations currently being enforced! We need direction! If new practices should be incorporated into a sector that isn't working and a better way of handling our concerns is available—tell us what we should be doing! Work with us safety folks, not against us! You’ll still be receiving your fines/penalties if industries are not following safe work practices, and the General Duty Clause has covered a plethora of remaining areas that don’t have set regulations, but industries should be knowledgeable enough to know if they completed a thorough hazard assessment of their facilities. If you are really concerned about workplace safety, help the safety folks work with management (bottleneck) in most cases in enacting safe work practices. We don’t have much recourse when we advise in most cases I have experienced. But yet, we wind up being the reason why something does occur.
The current administration is rolling back safety, testing and regulations. They are gutting agencies set up to protect people and the environment. They are removing protections on our land, air and water. It's so sad to see all the steps backward.
Based on the first 100 days in office performance, the forecast looks grim: too much uncertainty and walking on eggshells rather than addressing real issues in the workplace and coming up with solutions that will enhance workplace safety.
EHS professionals have advanced workplace safety largely through communicating evidence-based practices adopted or proposed by notable experts. This contrasts sharply with President Trump’s history of discounting expert advice in favor of his own poorly researched and unfounded opinions. Such actions are likely to lessen safety regulations to the detriment of workers while falsely touting decreased employer costs.
OSHA and the EHS industry are not immune from the waste and inefficiency of poor policy and governance. Clearly, the Trump administration’s work is focused on the American working people, including the protection of their safety, and the effects will be beneficial in both the short and long term.
This administration is not concerned about EHS at all. They are only looking to line the pockets of the rich and destroy the middle class!
Any review of regulations with a balanced approach of thoroughness and reasonableness should be something that everyone can support.
OSHA and MSHA should be combined. MSHA sites get inspected a minimum of four times a YEAR. OSHA sites average 16 years between inspections.
The reckless disregard for safety will return the USA to the “robber baron” era that will shield corporations from responsibility for the safety of their employees.
Trump will bring common sense back to regulation. Since 2020 regulations from EPA and OSHA have NOT been about safety and health; instead, they have been about fulfilling DEI mandates and baseless global warming initiatives, misusing emergency response standards, and making laws that cannot realistically be complied with.
The Trump administration running workplace safety is like a serial arsonist running the fire department. No knowledge of what it takes to put fires out, just a bunch of experience starting fires.
He's making these changes so businesses can cut corners and make more money at the expense of the workers.
I hope that common sense thinking returns to rules-making. The elimination of volunteer fire departments with the extraneous BS that they are or were requiring will do nothing but close small stations. The entire goal is to move everything to unionized state-run and -funded departments. More big government. I hope that things like the one-size-fits-all heat stress rule with the threshold of 80 degrees is not implemented as well. We need facts-based reasonable standards. OSHA has gone into long-established companies with good safety records and fined them 1 million dollars in BS fines. Fire extinguishers on the floor near area of use—over $100K in fines for that? They just wanted to close a nonunion iron foundry because of the nonunion workplace. [Under] RFK Jr vaccines and healthcare are going to get worse, but the rest should improve by not using resources on wasted agendas.
All indications are that workplace safety will be abandoned in the name of increasing profit margins for owners and shareholders of corporations.
The only way to protect workers is by implementing safety standards that force employers to protect their workforce. Without a safe and healthy workforce, we cannot get the job done. Trump is proposing to “review” some of these standards and practices already in place, but I believe these will be removed.
Any time we've had a Republican president, environmental and safety regulations get flushed. This means the government isn’t protecting the public, which is its job. This leaves more work for the courts, and thankfully caselaw keeps the more honest companies honest because they don’t want to get dragged through the caselaw mud. Unfortunately this also means more work for state governments. And in the wealthier, more liberal states, people remain protected. But in poor states with no state protections, people get poisoned and hurt. This is a social justice issue, and the courts are well aware of this issue. However, in poor states, there isn’t a lot the courts can do.
Over-regulation in any field creates an environment of fear and increased expense at the cost of actual good change. There are reasons the U.S. can’t compete against China and other countries, and little of it makes actual sense.
Cuts to NIOSH or OSHA will be devastating worldwide, as access to existing resources and standards are affected and initiatives are put on hold.
This administration has traditionally sided with employers over employees, which leads me to believe that bad actors may take advantage of this opportunity to maximize profits at the expense of their employees’ safety and well-being.
Based on much of what they have done so far, I expect they will do all they can to reduce safety policies that cost large companies money at the expense of worker safety.
Both [OSHA and EPA] have become bureaucratic nightmares. Any changes to help shift the focus to education and support will be beneficial.
Cutting safety support sends a clear message that "we the people" are no longer important/valued.
OSHA needs to be more user-friendly. One time OSHA reps were invited to an on-site safety meeting to talk to the field hands. While they were on-site they wrote up minor things. You should be able to work with OSHA. It’s too much government.
The hell-in-a-handbasket approach of the current administration is setting workplace safety back 100 years or more. The desperate attempts to lure low-cost manufacturing back to the country will likely lead to further deregulation and disregard for safety protocols.
The Trump Administration is freezing spending along with cutting jobs and regulations with minimal understanding of why things are in place and without offering ways to support the agencies with the loss of these funds or employees. This “cut first, ask questions later” process is the equivalent of using a chainsaw with no training or PPE because no requirements for those things exist, and then being mad at your employer because they didn’t protect you, even though they’re no longer required to.
Deregulation does not improve safety because bad actors will be bad actors without rules to hold them accountable.
Trump shutting down NIOSH was kind of a shock. The Republican party has always stood for less government and that was obvious by the amount of layoffs that ensued after he took office. I sort of laughed at his, “OSHA, if you want to create a new regulation, you need to eliminate 10 other regulations.” But the amount of corruption and gross negligence when it comes to our taxpayer dollars that Elon Musk and DOGE are finding blows my mind. But overall, I really don’t think President Trump will have any long-lasting negative effects on OSHA. But as a proud Coal Country citizen (Wyoming), I am extremely happy he is pushing for more coal than falling into the trap of pushing for electrical vehicles.
Employees have fought long and hard to be protected at work. The EPA has worked hard to keep the environment safe. It is scary to think that all the hard work will be washed away with all the policy changes they are making or will make.
Evidence of changes made even in the short run of this administration are focused on how can the cronies make even more money and regulations and court orders are thrown out the window or just plain ignored.
It is too early to tell what direction things will go with this administration and department leaders.
And there you have it—a quick peek into the thoughts and concerns of your EHS peers as to what the first 100+ days of the Trump 2.0 administration have meant/will mean to the safety profession. We’ll continue to report on the latest and most relevant regulatory news that comes out of Washington and the state agencies; it’s safe to say that there will be plenty more to come. And as always, ensuring and protecting the health and safety of workers will ultimately rely not on politicians or bureaucrats, but on the EHS professionals managing the workplace.
