Recent reports confirm that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reversed prior reduction-in-force actions at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and begun issuing reinstatement notices across divisions. This is welcome and encouraging news for workers, employers and the occupational environmental health and safety (EHS) community.

NIOSH plays a foundational role in protecting workers nationwide — conducting and funding critical research, supporting prevention programs, certifying personal protective equipment and translating science into practice. Reinstating staff is a meaningful move toward restoring this vital capacity after months of disruption and uncertainty.

Why This Matters

Since spring 2025, reductions in NIOSH staffing and operations raised serious concerns across the occupational EHS community. These actions threatened to stall life-saving research, weaken hazard surveillance and disrupt programs relied upon by safety professionals across industries.

While it will take time for NIOSH to fully assess staffing levels and operational capacity following a prolonged disruption, reinstatement is a major development for worker safety and health. It helps stabilize the infrastructure that underpins prevention, research and evidence-based decision-making across the U.S. workforce. For safety professionals, a strong NIOSH means better research, guidance and tools to prevent injuries and illnesses in real workplaces. This is an important validation of what sustained, coordinated advocacy can accomplish for worker safety and health.

A Collective Advocacy Effort

This progress did not happen in isolation. It reflects the value of sustained, coordinated engagement across the occupational EHS community, including professional organizations, labor partners, employers and individual safety professionals who consistently elevated the importance of a strong NIOSH with the capacity to carry out its mission.

Throughout this period, ASSP worked alongside partners through the Workplace EHS Coalition and other alliances to underscore the real-world consequences of weakened federal safety capacity and to reinforce why NIOSH’s mission matters — not just to safety professionals, but to workers, families and communities nationwide.

ASSP’s efforts included:

• Public statements and leadership engagement emphasizing the importance of NIOSH’s research and prevention mission
• Coalition sign-on letters and coordinated outreach to policymakers
• Advocacy in support of strong federal funding for NIOSH
• Member engagement tools encouraging safety professionals to share their voices directly with elected officials

Learn More

ASSP has centralized its advocacy and policy resources related to NIOSH and federal worker safety agencies, including formal position statements, coalition letters and member advocacy tools. Explore these resources here: ASSP Position Statements and Advocacy Resources.

Looking Ahead

Reinstating NIOSH staff is an important milestone, but it is not the end of the work. Continued engagement will be essential as NIOSH rebuilds capacity, restores disrupted programs and looks ahead to future funding cycles.

ASSP will continue advocating for strong, science-based policies and sustained support for NIOSH, working with partners across the occupational EHS community to protect and strengthen the systems that keep workers safe.

This moment is worth recognizing as a win for occupational EHS — and a reminder of what the safety and health community can achieve when it speaks with a clear, consistent and persistent voice.