The nation’s top workplace safety regulator won’t be able to proactively enforce its rules this year as it grapples with a significant loss in safety inspectors, former agency officials say.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration had 736 safety inspectors as of June 2025, a loss of more than 100 across Biden’s last year and the first six months of the second Trump administration, according to the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.
The agency anticipates that it, along with its state partners, will have approximately 1,720 inspectors covering 144 million workers in 2026—which translates to about one inspector for every 84,000 workers, according to the OIG’s report. The lack of available inspectors “can lead to fewer inspections, diminished enforcement in high-risk industries and, ultimately, greater risk of fatalities, injuries, or compromised health for workers,” the report warned.
Read the article: Drop in Work Safety Inspectors to Undermine Enforcement Efforts
Exposure Research Lab 