Federal scientists and engineers working to prevent deadly disasters and the spread of disease in miners are heading back to work after the Trump administration reversed staffing cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH.
NIOSH’s full staff — including more than 170 staffers focused on mine safety who were dismissed earlier this year — are being reinstated, said Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention houses NIOSH.
“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the nation’s critical public health functions remain intact and effective,” Hilliard said. “The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services — whether it’s supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases.”
The Trump administration’s move to slash thousands of federal jobs last year rattled the mining and public health community as cuts spread to NIOSH’s mine safety research divisions in Spokane, Washington, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which are tasked with preventing injury, illness and death in the workplace. The cuts arrived as Trump moves to expand mining of coal and minerals across the U.S. by clawing back regulations, fast-tracking reviews and supercharging funding to bolster domestic mining of coal, copper, uranium and critical minerals.
