Federal Workplace Safety Inspector Ranks Drop After Earlier Jump

The number of inspectors working for the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration declined slightly in fiscal year 2023, following a large gain the prior year, according to agency data obtained by Bloomberg Law.

As of the Sept. 30 close of the 2023 fiscal year, the agency had 878 inspectors, a loss of 14 and 1.6% fewer than in the year before, a change the Labor Department workplace safety agency attributed to ongoing budget uncertainty. The slight drop comes after OSHA saw a significant inspector increase in fiscal year 2022, when 142 new positions were filled.

While inspector numbers declined, OSHA did boost field enforcement supervisor levels, the numbers showed. At the close of fiscal year 2023, there were 232 area directors and assistant area directors, 15 more than were employed at the end of 2022.

Bloomberg Law obtained the trove of personnel data through a Freedom of Information Act request to OSHA.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden (D) called for doubling the number of OSHA inspectors to around 1,500 by the close of 2024.

The administration has made some initial progress. The 878 inspectors onboard at the end of 2023 represent an 11% increase from the 790 working at the close of fiscal 2020, the last full year of the Trump administration.

OSHA said 2023’s slowdown in inspector hiring is due to the unsettled issue of how much money the agency can spend in fiscal 2024, as Congress remains unable to approve agency budgets.

“A 1.6% fluctuation is not unusual,” an OSHA spokesperson said in a statement. “We kept up with attrition because we hired aggressively in these ranks for two years, but hiring at that rate now would be imprudent in light of budget uncertainties.”

Senate and House 2024 appropriations proposals for OSHA both cut the agency’s funding from its 2023 level of $632 million, plus millions of dollars in Covid-related allocations.

Safety Up, Health Down

OSHA’s 878 inspectors include 555 focused on physical safety concerns, 250 health specialists, and 73 engineers.

The OSHA data show that much of the 2023 loss was attributable to fewer health-focused industrial hygienists on staff. Their number decreased from 274 in 2022 to 250 in 2023. The number of safety officers increased by 16 to 555 in 2023.

While both groups are qualified to conduct inspections at any workplace, industrial hygienists are often called on to investigate health risks such as measuring workers’ chemical or silica exposure.

Of the 150 inspectors brought on board in 2023, 136 were new hires and 14 transferred from other federal jobs.

When these new arrivals are added to the 263 inspectors brought in during 2022, it means almost half of OSHA inspectors have two years or less experience in their jobs. Generally, new inspectors spend their first year under the supervision of more senior colleagues before they are assigned to do complicated inspections by themselves.

The number of whistleblower investigators also declined. The year ended with 105 investigators, down nine from 2022’s 114, but still more than the 83 in 2021, the first year of the Biden administration.

Whistleblower investigators enforce 25 laws, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act, protecting workers from employer retaliation for raising concerns about illegal actions ranging from financial crimes to lying about food ingredients.

The laws include the financial reporting Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Federal Railroad Safety Act.