United States

Number of OSHA Workplace Safety Inspectors Declines Under Trump

Those lost represented 4 percent of OSHA's total federal inspection force

The number of federal workplace safety inspectors has fallen under the Trump administration, according to new data obtained by NBC News.

Forty inspectors were lost through attrition and no new hires were made to fill vacancies, as of Oct. 2.

Those lost represented 4 percent of OSHA's total federal inspection force, according to the data.

"OSHA is far too understaffed to fulfill its mandate of reducing workplace injuries," Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said. "Under the Trump administration, OSHA has suffered a troubling decline in both staff and workplace inspections in key areas of the country."

Labor Department spokesman Eric Holland countered that since early October the agency has hired "several additional inspectors" and is recruiting over two dozen more.

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