Republican Party efforts to dismantle the federal government have now shifted towards eliminating the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The Trump administration is already attempting to shut down humanitarian U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, is reportedly scheduled to issue an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, and is reconstituting the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The New York Times claims the CDC has already scrubbed thousands of pages from the CDC’s website.
OSHA regulates workplace safety measures and has been targeted for dissolution by a new bill introduced by Arizona’s Republican Party Rep. Andy Biggs. The congressman’s “Nullify Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act,” aims to dismantle the agency because, the representative said in a press release, of its “usurping [of] states’ authorities and forcing Biden’s vaccine mandate on the private sector.
“OSHA’s existence is yet another example of the federal government creating agencies to address issues that are more appropriately handled by state governments and private employers,” Biggs’ statement said. “Arizona, and every other state, has the constitutional right to establish and implement their own health and safety measures, and is more than capable of doing so. It’s time that we fight back against the bloated federal government and eliminate agencies that never should have been established in the first place. I will not let OSHA push Arizona around with their bureaucratic regulations and urge my colleagues to support my effort to eliminate this unconstitutional federal agency.”
On its current website, OSHA lists the health and safety rights workers have in U.S. workplaces. If workers identify hazards at their work sites, they have been traditionally encouraged to report these issues to federal authorities. One part of their list reads: “You also have the right to:
Receive workplace safety and health training in a language you understand
Work on machines that are safe
Refuse to work in a situation in which you would be exposed to a hazard
Receive required safety equipment, such as gloves or a harness and lifeline for falls
Be protected from toxic chemicals
Request an OSHA inspection, and speak to the inspector
Report an injury or illness, and get copies of your medical records
Review records of work-related injuries and illnesses
See results of tests taken to find workplace hazards”
Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League called Biggs’ proposed bill catastrophic. “Repealing OSHA would put workers at great risk by dismantling the very protections that have helped reduce workplace injuries and deaths for over 50 years,” she said. “Without OSHA, many workers will be left vulnerable to unsafe conditions, and it will be the most vulnerable — low-income and minority workers — who will bear the brunt of dangerous rollbacks. Additionally, OSHA plays a crucial role in ensuring children’s safety in the workforce by holding corporations accountable and enforcing laws against dangerous, illegal labor practices. We need to build on the progress made in workplace safety, not dismantle it.”
The bill introduced by Representative Biggs has been forwarded to the Committee on Education and Workforce for further review.
