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During the last partial government shutdown, lasting a total of 35 days, the White House dissolved a workplace safety regulation stipulated in 2016 which required employers to electronically submit detailed reports of workplace injuries to the Department of Labor through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The regulation, titled The Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, was intended to help identify unsafe working conditions and encourage workplace safety solutions among employers. The Trump Administration made efforts to end the rule back in 2017, when it ended the requirement for employers to submit detailed injury reports for a mere summary report.
The final amendment was reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget and published on January 25th, 2019. Vaguely stated reasons for ending the regulation included privacy concerns for employees and undue burden on employers.
In response, a collection of labor rights and public health groups, including the Public Citizen Health Research Group and the American Public Health Association, have filed a lawsuit stating that the change is unlawful since the expedient rulemaking process was not transparent and lacked satisfactory reason with little basis in law.
Public health researchers are understandably concerned as they rely on the data provided in worker injury reports to analyze health risks posed on workers and in develop preventative programs, all of which is important to protect American workers operating in hazardous conditions.