Coalition presses lawmakers to stop planned layoffs at NIOSH

Washington — A group of 460 organizations is urging leaders in Congress to “do everything possible” to stop planned massive cuts to NIOSH staffing.

In an April 8 letter addressed to the respective chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House appropriations subcommittees, which have oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services, the coalition calls on the lawmakers to “reverse this misguided move immediately so that NIOSH’s vital mission continues, and its workforce can maintain efforts to keep Americans safe and well.”

On March 27, HHS announced a restructuring plan that will merge NIOSH with four other agencies. That restructuring is expected to include layoffs of more than 870 of NIOSH’s employees. According to a CBS News report, the layoffs will affect the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory and NIOSH’s miner safety and health branches. Those cuts are expected to go into effect by June 30.

“These cuts are devastating not only to the NIOSH employees who carry out a vital mission every day: preventing workplace injury, illness and death, but also to the millions of American workers whose lives and livelihoods are protected by NIOSH’s efforts,” the letter states.

“NIOSH protects the nation’s 164 million workers and provides the only dedicated federal investment for research needed to prevent injuries and illnesses that cost the U.S. economy $250 billion annually. Different than the regulatory approach to safety and health, NIOSH works cooperatively with employers and employees to adapt research findings into workable solutions. NIOSH is also the only federal research agency responsible for protecting the nation’s workers through evidence-based solutions.”

The letter continues: “The health and safety of the American workforce is a shared goal of all our organizations. Many of our members are employed in high-risk occupations. Rather than accept that working requires individuals to place their health and well-being at risk, we believe strongly that all occupations can be made safer through the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses.”

Similarly, an April 8 letter from Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, seeks answers on HHS’ announced cuts, including those to NIOSH.

“I am concerned that NIOSH, one of the five agencies that will be consolidated into the new Administration for a Healthy America, may be so gutted by layoffs that it will be unable to perform its important work,” Scott writes to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“NIOSH plays an important role in protecting workers’ health by conducting research on worker safety and health, developing recommendations on occupational injury and illness prevention, and stimulating innovations in mine safety technology.”

In another letter sent on April 8 to Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), who chairs the committee, Scott and 14 other lawmakers request a hearing on the HHS restructuring. “Congress and the American public deserve transparency on how these changes will impact the services HHS provides,” the letter states.