On March 27, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to reduce the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) by as much as two-thirds.
EHS Today reported that both ASSP and the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) voiced their opposition to these plans.
And on March 9, AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals, announced that it was launching a campaign saying that it is taking action to restore staff and funding to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The agency, located within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is responsible for conducting research and making recommendations to prevent work-related illnesses and injuries.
Reductions to NIOSH personnel planned by the administration will leave “only a fraction of its original workforce to manage select programs,” said AIHA CEO Lawrence Sloan, in a statement. “The proposed reductions effectively end the institute's ability to conduct essential research and provide guidance.”
The scope of the cuts is “unprecedented, affecting not just the staff and programmatic activities of NIOSH, but also the entire OEHS profession,” according to one industrial hygienist remaining at NIOSH, who did not have permission to speak on the record and therefore asked to remain anonymous. “The scientific resources, expertise, and funding that NIOSH provides cannot be recreated elsewhere.”
AIHA’s campaign encourages professionals in OEHS and allied fields to contact their elected representatives about the importance of maintaining NIOSH staffing and programs. It has generated more than 3,400 messages to legislators.
Individuals wishing to take action can message their representatives directly through the association’s grassroots portal, which provides a prefilled template letter. A comprehensive PDF with information about the importance of NIOSH and its programs is also available to help advocates customize messages.
The group is also engaging with legislators and policymakers to advocate for the preservation of NIOSH and partnering with allied associations, including the American Society of Safety Professionals, the National Safety Council, and other members of the Intersociety Forum, a coalition of more than 20 OEHS associations, to present a unified response against the proposed cuts.
In a letter dated April 4, more than 100 members of Congress joined multiple unions and AIHA in calling on President Donald J. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to reverse the terminations at NIOSH. If the terminations stand, the letter states, “millions of workers across the country will face greater risks to job injury, illness, and death.”
Programs Impacted
Many stakeholders consider NIOSH the world’s leading workplace health and safety agency, and the proposed cuts will affect programs ranging from mining safety research to the certification of personal protective equipment.
The agency’s programs include the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides monitoring and treatment for first responders and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. World Trade Center Health Program staff are among the fewer than 150 NIOSH employees expected to remain after the cuts are enacted, representing a handful of the approximately 1,400 full- and part-time staff who worked at the agency as of late March 2025. However, advocates say the cuts “will cripple the program’s ability to adequately monitor and provide care,” as reported by USA Today.
Other critical NIOSH programs have been eliminated, such as the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, which was created when Congress passed the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018. NIOSH describes the NFR as “the largest effort ever undertaken to understand and reduce risk of cancer among U.S. firefighters.” The registration section of the NFR website became unavailable following reduction-in-force notices to agency staff.
Sloan stressed that these cuts to NIOSH will send ripple effects through the OEHS field and suppliers due to loss of research and guidance. “The elimination of programs dedicated to mining safety and PPE certification raises significant concerns about the future effectiveness of safety protocols and the availability of reliable protective equipment for workers,” Sloan said.
“For those who don’t think the cost of NIOSH’s $363 million annual budget is worth the investment in preventing workplace illnesses and injuries, this study estimated just three NIOSH case studies (with a cost of $5.1 million) have resulted in an annual economic value of $338 million to over $1.2 billion,” said AIHA President Nicole Greeson, in a statement. “NIOSH provides a significant return on investment.”