The Trump administration has been reinstating the hundreds of health and safety officials who had previously been subject to mass layoffs.
The newly reinstated workers are part of the National Institute of Safety and Health, or NIOSH, the federal institute within the Department of Health and Human Services that’s focused on conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness.
Around 900 of NIOSH’s 1,000 employees were laid off last April as part of President Donald Trump’s reorganization of the federal workforce, led by then-adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
This move drew sharp criticism from firefighters, coal miners, medical equipment manufacturers and a range of others. Some employees were brought back last year amid legal challenges and political pressure, including those who staffed a health monitoring program for miners in West Virginia.
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The terminations have all now been rescinded according to the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents workers at NIOSH and parts of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The administration’s attempt to lay off nearly every NIOSH worker was shameful and illegal, considering that much of NIOSH’s work is required by law,” AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a statement.
The AFGE statement said that the reinstatement “ensures the continuation of critical programs that protect all working people, including mine safety research, chemical hazard assessment, and research on emerging occupational risks.”
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman on Wednesday confirmed that laid-off NIOSH employees were being reinstated. “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,” spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement.
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Nixon confirmed that the reinstatement applies to all NIOSH officials except those who voluntarily left government.
Attorney Michael Barasch said that many of the laid off workers are likely to have moved on, and wouldn’t be returning. Barasch has helped clients enroll in the NIOSH World Trade Center Health Program that provides medical monitoring and treatment.
Barasch describes the NIOSH layoffs and their impact as “horrifying.” More agency workers may be coming back now, but the layoffs last year delayed diagnosis and treatment and it’s likely that “people died because of these cuts,” he said.
At the end of last year, the CDC had about 10,800 full-time workers, or about 20% fewer than the number with the agency before the April layoffs began, according to the CDC.