“The Government Shutdown is a Worker Safety Shutdown”

29 Oct 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2025
Contact: Tochtli Garcia, tgarcia@nationalcosh.org, +1 917 804 8581

“The Government Shutdown is a Worker Safety Shutdown,” Says National COSH

  • Shutdown deepens crisis for working families as safety agencies stall, protections weaken, and oversight disappears.

  • With OSHA scaled back, millions of workers face greater risks — as enforcement stalls, protections weaken, and working families suffer.

Los Angeles, CA – As the federal government shutdown enters its 28th day, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is sounding the alarm: the continued impasse is putting millions of U.S. workers at risk. With key agencies like Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) unable to operate at full capacity, the shutdown has become a “worker safety shutdown” — threatening the lives and well-being of working people across the country.

“Right now, over 130 million workers are depending on an OSHA that can’t function fully,” said Jessica E. Martinez, Executive Director of National COSH. “Inspections are stalled. Fatality investigations are delayed. Rulemaking is frozen. The very agencies charged with keeping workers safe are now shuttered — or running on fumes.”

Even before the shutdown, the U.S. worker safety system was under enormous strain: underfunded, understaffed, and increasingly pulled away from enforcement toward consultation. Now, routine oversight (like investigating hazards, responding to complaints, and issuing citations) has ground to a halt for most industries.

Real-World Consequences of Reduced Oversight

Recent incidents underscore the stakes. Earlier this month, an industrial explosion at a munitions plant in Bucksnort, Tennessee and a crane collapse in Everett, Massachusetts caused worker deaths and injuries. These tragedies occurred during the shutdown, highlighting the real cost of frozen enforcement and a system that too often reacts only after lives are lost.

“When oversight disappears, danger increases,” said Martinez. “These aren’t isolated accidents. They are predictable outcomes of an economy and political system that are failing to protect the people who make everything work.”

Shutdown Adds to a Broader Pattern of Attacks on Worker Protections

The shutdown crisis is not happening in a vacuum. It is part of a larger, deeply troubling trend — a sustained erosion of worker protections at the federal level:

  • Proposed rollbacks to the General Duty Clause (the bedrock of OSHA protections) would gut one of the only tools workers have when no specific standard applies, such as for extreme heat.
  • Rulemaking on a federal heat standard is stalled, even as record temperatures put more workers at risk.
  • Automation and AI-driven layoffs are replacing human workers while corporate leaders dodge accountability.
  • Immigrant workers, facing deportation threats, are increasingly afraid to report dangerous conditions.

“Workers are not the problem. But too often, they are treated as disposable,” added Martinez. “Meanwhile, billionaire interests push for deregulation, cutting corners, and weakening oversight that keeps people alive.”

Shutdown Hits Working Families Hardest

The shutdown is also devastating working families far beyond the job site:

  • Federal workers are being forced to work without pay or are furloughed, causing deep financial strain.
  • Essential programs like SNAP, WIC, and Head Start face disruptions, leaving low-income families without food, childcare, or healthcare support.
  • Utility assistance programs are on hold — just as colder months begin.
  • Government contractors, many of whom are low-wage workers, may never be compensated for missed work.

“This isn’t just about bureaucrats in D.C. — this is about whether a mother can feed her children or heat her home,” said Martinez. “This is about whether a worker will come home safely tonight. The shutdown is compounding poverty, increasing risk, and undermining the most basic protections working families depend on.”

Call to Action: Fund Safety, Protect Workers

National COSH is urging Congress and the White House to end the shutdown immediately and prioritize full funding for worker protection agencies. This organization also calls for:

  • Preserving and strengthening the General Duty Clause — not weakening it.
  • Resuming progress on a national heat standard, protecting outdoor and indoor workers from preventable illness and death.
  • Increased funding for OSHA, allowing them to hire more inspectors, conduct timely investigations, and enforce lifesaving standards.

“We need a system that values people over profits,” said Martinez. “We need to recognize that safety isn’t a luxury, it’s a human right. No worker should ever lose their life just because the government stopped doing its job.”

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The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safe, healthy, and just working conditions. We advocate for stronger protections, empower workers to assert their rights, and work to eliminate hazards that threaten safety. For more information, visit www.nationalcosh.org and follow us @NationalCOSH on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.