The number of federal workplace safety inspectors has declined in President Donald Trump's administration, NBC News reports.
Between January and October 2017, 40 Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors left the agency, bringing the total number of federal inspectors below 1,000. As of Oct. 2, those vacancies were not filled, according to information obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request.
Labor Department spokesman Eric Holland told NBC that OSHA has added "several additional inspectors" and is in the process of hiring another two dozen to "ensure that OSHA has the necessary personnel to carry out its important work," according to what Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said in his November testimony.
Former OSHA head David Michaels, who led the agency during the Obama administration, said that because of the reduced staff, "there's greater pressure to quickly reach a settlement with the employer, which often means reduced fines. The lack of new inspectors makes OSHA invisible. If employers don't think OSHA will come, workers are much more likely to be hurt."
Although conservatives, like Rachel Greszler of the Heritage Foundation, applauded Trump's efforts to reduce the federal workforce, some warn that the cuts have affected the agency's local offices that were already short-staffed.
"OSHA is far too understaffed to fulfill its mandate of reducing workplace injuries," Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a letter to the Labor Department obtained by NBC News.
"Under the Trump administration, OSHA has suffered a troubling decline in both staff and workplace inspections in key areas of the country."
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