RFK Jr. Rehires 40 Fired Employees at Workplace Safety Agency

The federal agency responsible for researching work-related injuries temporarily restored about 40 employees fired from health programs centered around miners and firefighters after lobbying from a Republican senator and a union.

The employees in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program and Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, located in Morgantown, W.Va., were taken off administrative leave, according to AFGE Local 3430 President Cathy Tinney-Zara, whose union represents NIOSH workers in Morgantown. These workers, however, are still subject for termination on June 2, Tinney-Zara said.

“This action, though temporary, allows these dedicated professionals to return to their critical roles in advancing worker safety and health across the country,” Tinney-Zara said.

The Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program studies respiratory diseases in miners related to coal dust exposure and provides health screenings for the industry, while the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program conducts investigations of firefighter line-of-duty deaths to develop recommendations for preventing future injuries.

NIOSH, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, notified workers April 1 that nearly 900 staffers would be let go as part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plans to cut 10,000 employees across his agency. This triggered bipartisan pushback over concerns the cuts could inhibit the government from effectively responding to occupational hazards.

The International Association of Fire Fighters credited the restoration of the fire fighter health and safety programs to its advocacy.

The union had direct talks with both White House officials and Kennedy, who shared President Donald Trump’s order to cut staff was “misinterpreted by ‘mid-level bureaucrats” at HHS, according to IAFF General President Edward Kelly.

“I am confident that the IAFF’s voice will continue to be heard as we work together to improve these programs and make our dangerous jobs as safe as possible,” Kelly said.

Kennedy shared a post to X, formerly Twitter, that firefighter safety programs are a top priority for the HHS and that critical services of NIOSH will remain intact. NIOSH didn’t respond to a request for comment to clarify the scope of its reinstatements.

NIOSH, which was created under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, provides both the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as the Mine Safety and Health Administration with critical research, training, and resource development for responding to on-the-job injuries and hazards. NIOSH has facilities across the country and has a range of service programs to carry out its research.

More than 500 jobs are being eliminated across NIOSH field offices in West Virginia, Washington, and Pennsylvania, representatives from the American Federation of Government Employees told Bloomberg Law earlier this month. These offices are part of the agency’s mine-site observation and compliance sampling data work, which informs studies on mining technology.

That amounted to a nearly two-thirds reduction of NIOSH staff, former agency officials said. The research facility in Morgantown, W.Va. would lose nearly all its staff.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a statement she will focus on working with HHS to permanently restore the personnel in Morgantown. Capito had previously urged HHS to restore the NIOSH positions.

“NIOSH is not just a research institution—it is a public health and economic engine,” Tinney-Zara said, commending Capito’s efforts.