• Posted April 1, 2025

Major Job Cuts at NIOSH Pose Risks to Worker Safety, Critics Warn

A major round of job cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) could weaken efforts to protect American workers, according to federal health officials.

About two-thirds of NIOSH staff -- roughly 875 people -- may lose their jobs as part of a larger restructuring ordered by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The move is part of a federal plan to cut 10,000 jobs across HHS this year.

Created by Congress in 1970, NIOSH studies how to keep workplaces safe. 

Companies and governments use the agency to investigate serious events, such as the fungal outbreak that shut down a Michigan paper mill in 2023, CBS News said.

In Pittsburgh and Spokane, where nearly 200 employees work, most jobs are expected to be cut. 

Some entire teams — like the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, which tests N95 masks -- could be eliminated, according to a letter sent to the workers' union.

Lilas Soukup, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' union post 1916, confirmed the layoff notice was sent Monday. She said little guidance about the cuts has been received from HHS.

The cuts are expected to take place by June 30, although the final layoff notices haven't been delivered yet.

Managers across HHS said they’ve been given little information about how the cuts are being made, CBS News reported.

NIOSH is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It oversees several important safety programs, including a registry to track cancer in firefighters and a health program for people affected by the 9/11 terror attacks.

Under Kennedy’s plan, a smaller NIOSH would be combined with a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America.

Other health offices, including those focused on mental health and HIV/AIDS, are also merging.

Officials say the CDC will also take over parts of other health agencies, including global affairs teams and much of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). ASPR manages stockpiles of emergency supplies and runs response teams for national disasters.

Some parts of ASPR -- like the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) -- will become parts of other agencies.

BARDA has helped fund new treatments for diseases like COVID and mpox. 

Officials expect BARDA to merge with Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), another medical research agency.

More information

Learn more about the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

SOURCE: CBS News, March 31, 2025