WORKER SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS

Overview

President Bush’s FY 2009 budget request for worker safety and health programs is a very mixed picture.  Funding for some programs, including federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforcement, is increased.  But other programs, including NIOSH, suffer major cuts.  Those programs designed to expand and improve knowledge about hazards and protections, including research, standard setting and training, are being cut or neglected.  With this latest budget, the nation will fall further behind in   efforts to address many serious safety and health problems workers face on the job.

For OSHA, overall funding for FY 2009 would be increased compared to FY 2008.  But worker safety and health training programs would be eliminated.  This year’s budget request is $25.7 million less in real dollar terms than funding for OSHA in FY 2001 when the Bush Administration took office.

The President has proposed a reduction in funding for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) over FY 2008 levels.  The coal enforcement program would be cut by nearly $10 million and the standards development office by $350,000, at a time when coal mine catastrophes continue and when MSHA is failing to meet legal deadlines for issuing new protective standards.  Funding for enforcement in metal/non-metal mines would be increased by $11 million.

For FY 2009, President Bush has proposed deep cuts in the NIOSH budget, reducing the nation’s commitment to researching and preventing workplace injuries, diseases and deaths.  The Bush Administration has also proposed to slash funding for the World Trade Center (WTC) Screening and Treatment Program for 9/11 responders who are now sick as a result of exposures at ground zero, cutting funding for this important program by 77%. 

For FY 2009, the Bush Administration has proposed the following funding levels for the job safety agencies:

• $501.7 million for OSHA
• $332.1 million for MSHA
• $246 million for NIOSH

With this combined budget request of $1.08 billion for the federal job safety agencies, in FY 2009, the Bush Administration proposes to spend $7.39 per worker to protect American workers from job injuries, illnesses and death. [1]

Table 9.  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ($ in thousands)
Fiscal Year	Budget Request or Appropriation	Positions in FTEs
FY 2001 Enacted	$425,886	2,370
FY 2002 Request	$425,835	2,276
FY 2002 Enacted	$443,651	2,300
FY 2003 Request	$437,000	2,217
FY 2003 Enacted	$453,000	2,260
FY 2004 Request	$450,000	2,236
FY 2004 Enacted	$460,786	2,220
FY 2004 Rescission	$457,500	2,220
FY 2005 Request	$461,600	2,238
FY 2005 Enacted	$464,224	2,200
FY 2006 Request	$466,981	2,208
FY 2006 Enacted	$472,427	2,165
FY 2007 Request	$483,667	2,173
FY 2007 Enacted	$486,925	2,165
FY 2008 Request	$490,300	2,186
FY 2008 Enacted	$486,001	2,118
FY 2009 Request	$501,674	2,165

• The FY 2009 budget proposes $501.7 million in funding for OSHA compared to $486 million appropriated in FY 2008.

• Adjusting for inflation, the FY 2009 proposed OSHA budget represents a $4.6 million increase over the FY 2008 appropriation.  But since FY 2001, when the Bush Administration took office, there has been an erosion in funding for this federal job safety program.  In real dollar (inflation adjusted terms), the FY 2009 budget request is $25.7 million less than the  FY 2001 funding level for OSHA. 

• In FY 2009, the Bush Administration proposes to totally eliminate funding for worker safety and health training and education programs, as it did in FY 2008.  Indeed every year since taking office, the Administration has sought to slash or eliminate funding for worker training.  But each year the Congress has rejected these proposed cuts and maintained funding for worker safety training programs.  The FY 2008 funding bill provided $9.9 million in funding for worker safety and health training.  

• At the same time it proposes to eliminate safety and health training for workers, the Administration has proposed significant increases in funding for compliance assistance programs for employers.  In FY 2009, the budget proposes a $5.1 million increase in the federal compliance assistance program.  The total combined funding requested in FY 2009 for federal and state compliance assistance programs is $131.1 million, 26% of the overall OSHA budget. 

Table 10.  Funding for OSHA Worker Safety Training Programs Verses Employer Compliance Assistance Programs ($ in thousands)
Fiscal Year	Worker Safety and Health Training	Employer Compliance Assistance (Federal and State)
FY 2001 Enacted	$11,175	$105,089
FY 2002 Request	$8,175	$106,014
FY 2002 Enacted	$11,175	$109,804
FY 2003 Request	$4,000	$112,800
FY 2003 Enacted	$11,175	$115,274
FY 2004 Request	$4,000	$120,000
FY 2004 Enacted	$11,102	$119,968
FY 2004 Rescission	$10,500	$119,200
FY 2005 Request	$4,000	$125,200
FY 2005 Enacted	$10,500	$124,200
FY 2006 Request	$0	$127,000
FY 2006 Enacted	$10,100	$125,902
FY 2007 Request	$0	$130,000
FY 2007 Enacted	$10,100	$126,016
FY 2008 Request	$0	$134,100
FY 2008 Enacted	$9,939	$123,815
FY 2009 Request	$0	$131,072

• The proposed budget requests $17.2 million in funding for safety and health standards, compared to $16.6 million appropriated in FY 2008.  Adjusted for inflation, since FY 2001 the OSHA standard’s budget has been cut by $1.5 million or 10%.  Since taking office, the Bush Administration has virtually shut down the regulatory process, favoring voluntary guidelines over mandatory protections.  Only one economically significant rule – the hexavalent chromium standard – has been issued, and that was under court order.  Similarly, it took a lawsuit and Congressional action to force the issuance of the rule on employer payment for personal protective equipment after a 9 year delay.  Instead of developing and issuing needed protections, the Bush Administration overturned OSHA’s ergonomics standard, killed pending final rules on indoor air quality and tuberculosis and withdrew or delayed dozens of other important safety and health rules.

• The FY 2009 budget proposal increases funding for federal enforcement by $11.7 million over FY 2008, with a request of $194.0 million.  Adjusting for inflation, this represents a $7.7 million increase over FY 2008.  But funding for state OSHA enforcement continues to lag badly.  The funding proposed for FY 2009 –  $91.5 million – is  $0.5 million less in real dollar than current funding.  The FY 2009 request of $91.1 million represents a cut of  $18.3 million in real dollar terms over FY 2001.

• No specific funds or activities are proposed to address ergonomic hazards or to implement the Administration’s Comprehensive Approach to Ergonomics that was announced in April 2002.  Since that time federal OSHA has issued only three voluntary guidelines – for nursing homes, retail grocery and poultry - and issued 17 general duty citations for ergonomic hazards.  This minimal activity has ground to a halt.  No new final ergonomic guidelines have been issued since 2004, and no general duty citations have been issued since 2005.  

• Since the Bush Administration took office in 2001, the number of OSHA staff has been reduced from 2,370 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) in FY 2001 to 2,165 FTEs in FY 2007.  In FY 2008, cuts in the OSHA budget reduced the number of FTEs to 2,118.  For FY 2009, the request is to return the number of FTEs to FY 2007 levels  (2,165) which is 205 fewer positions than the agency had in FY 2001.

Table 11.  Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ($ in thousands)
Fiscal Year	Budget Request or Appropriation	Positions in FTEs
FY 2001 Enacted	$246,306	2,357
FY 2002 Request	$246,306	2,310
FY 2002 Enacted	$254,768	2,310
FY 2003 Request	$254,300	2,264
FY 2003 Enacted	$271,741	2,299
FY 2004 Request	$266,800	2,334
FY 2004 Enacted	$270,826	2,269
FY 2004 Rescission	$268,800	2,269
FY 2005 Request	$275,600	2,187
FY 2005 Enacted	$279,198	2,187
FY 2006 Request	$280,490	2,187
FY 2006 Enacted	$277,685	2,136
FY 2006 Emergency Supplemental	$25,600	170
FY 2007 Request	$287,836	2,136
FY 2007 Enacted	$301,570	2,314
FY 2008 Request	$313,500	2,314
FY 2008 Enacted	$333,925	2,306
FY 2009 Request	$332,061	2,361

• The FY 2009 budget proposes $332.1 million in funding for MSHA compared to a total of $334.0 million appropriated for MSHA in FY 2008.

• Adjusting for inflation, the FY 2009 proposed MSHA budget represents a cut of $9.5 million over the FY 2008 appropriations.  But compared to FY 2001, the MSHA budget has seen an increase of $27 million in real dollar terms.

• For the coal enforcement program, $144.9 million is requested, $10.2 million less than the $154.7 million appropriated in FY 2008.  The Department of Labor claims that these additional funds are no longer needed since coal inspectors hired in the past two years have been trained and deployed.  Since FY 2001, the coal enforcement program has seen an increase of $3.2 million in real dollar terms.  This increase in funding followed years of funding reductions and was largely in response to the deaths of 47 coal miners in 2006 and continued mining catastrophes in 2007.

• For Metal/Non-Metal Enforcement activities, $82.4 million is requested, a $10 million increase over the $71.4 million appropriated in FY 2008. These additional funds are sorely needed since MSHA has been failing to conduct mandatory inspections in these industries.

• For MSHA standard setting, $2.8 million is requested, compared to $3.2 million appropriated in FY 2008.  This proposed cut in funding for standards comes at a time when MSHA has failed to meet statutory deadlines for issuing new mine safety standards required by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act enacted by the Congress in 2006.  MSHA recently requested to borrow standards’ staff from its sister agency OSHA, underscoring that MSHA sorely needs more staff and funding for developing standards, not less as proposed by President Bush. 

• The FY 2009 budget requests 2,361 FTEs for MSHA compared to 2,306 FTEs for FY 2008.  This request proposes an increase of 55 FTEs for the metal/non-metal enforcement program, and maintains the FY 2008 staffing levels for all other MSHA programs, including coal enforcement.  The FTEs requested for FY 2009 is similar to the MSHA staffing levels at the beginning of the Bush Administration in FY 2001 (2,357 FTEs).

• For FY 2009, the Bush Administration has proposed a $246 million budget for NIOSH - $146.8 million for program activity and an additional $99.2 million to fund the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA).  This funding request is $27.9 million (10%) less than the $273.9 million for NIOSH program activities and research appropriated in FY 2008.  In inflation adjusted terms the FY 2009 budget request represents a $34.1 million cut for the job safety and health research agency over FY 2008 levels.

• For FY 2009, the Bush Administration has also proposed to slash funding for the World Trade Center (WTC) Screening and Treatment Program for 9/11 responders who are now sick as a result of exposures at ground zero.  Only $25 million is requested for this program in FY 2009, compared to $108 million appropriated by Congress in FY 2008.  This does not include emergency funding appropriated in earlier years for this program, carried over to FY 2008.  NIOSH, which administers this program, has estimated the annual cost of the program at $218 million.  The President’s FY 2009 budget proposal would leave thousands of sick workers without access to necessary medical treatment for their 9/11 conditions.

Table 13.  Job Safety and Health Appropriations FY 2001-- FY 2009
CATEGORY	FY 2001	FY 2002	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005	FY 2006	FY 2007	FY 2008 Request	FY 2008 Omnibus w/Rescission	Fiscal 2009 Request
OSHA (in thousands of dollars)
TOTAL	425,886	443,651	453,256	457,500	464,224	472,427	486,925	490,277	486,001	501,674
Safety & Health Standards	15,069	16,321	16,119	15,900	15,998	16,462	16,892	16,851	16,597	17,204
Federal Enforcement	151,836	161,768	164,039	166,000	169,601	172,575	176,973	183,045	182,136	194,000
State Enforcement	88,369	89,747	91,139	92,000	90,985	91,093	91,093	91,093	89,502	91,093
Technical Support	20,189	19,562	20,234	21,600	20,735	21,435	22,392	22,066	21,681	22,632
Federal Compliance Assistance	56,255	58,783	61,722	67,000	70,837	72,545	72,659	79,607	71,390	76,541
State Compliance Assistance	48,834	51,021	53,552	52,200	53,346	53,357	53,357	54,531	52,425	54,531
Training Grants	11,175	11,175	11,175	10,500	10,423	10,116	10,116	0	9,939	0
Safety & Health Statistics	25,597	26,257	26,063	22,200	22,196	24,253	32,274	32,082	31,522	34,128
Executive Administration/Direction	8,562	9,017	9,213	10,000	10,102	10,591	11,169	11,001	10,809	11,545
MSHA (in thousands of dollars)
TOTAL	246,306	254,768	271,741	268,800	279,198	303,286	301,570	313,476	333,925	332,061
Coal Enforcement	114,505	117,885	119,655	114,800	115,364	117,152	120,396	140,620	154,670	144,982
Supplemental (emergency)						25,600
Metal/Non-Metal Enforcement	55,117	61,099	63,910	65,500	66,731	68,062	72,506	72,290	71,420	82,437
Standards Development	1,760	2,357	2,378	2,300	2,333	2,481	2,727	2,737	3,180	2,831
Assessments	4,265	4,807	4,886	5,200	5,236	5,391	6,556	5,743	6,134	5,948
Education Policy & Development	31,455	27,984	27,914	30,400	31,245	31,701	35,326	34,256	36,605	36,366
Technical Support	27,053	28,085	28,675	24,500	25,104	25,479	29,237	28,200	29,476	29,117
Program Administration	12,151	12,551	14,323	12,200	15,665	11,906	13,637	13,413	16,504	13,876
Mine Mapping	--	--	10,000	--	--	--
Program Eval. & Info Resources	--	--	--	13,900	17,520	15,514	21,185	16,219	15,936	16,514
NIOSH (in thousands of dollars)
TOTAL	260,134	276,460	274,899	278,885	285,357	254,4011	252,100	253,000	381,955	271,000
Program Funding									273,8633	246,0004
WTC Health Funding								25,000 2	108,092	25,000
1 $34.8 million transferred to business services. TAP for administrative services eliminated.  Direct comparison with NIOSH funding for earlier years which included these administrative costs, cannot be made. 2 President's FY 2008 Budget Request included $25 million for WTC health funding in a different line item (Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund). 3 Includes $50 million for mine safety research adjusted to $49.126 million after the rescission. 4 Does not include $55 million for the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Program proposed to be included in the NIOSH budget instead of the DOL budget.

Table 14.  Job Safety and Health Appropriations, Inflation Adjusted FY 2001-- FY 2009
CATEGORY	FY 2001	FY 2001 Inflation Adjusted1	FY 2008	FY 2008 Inflation Adjusted1	FY 2009 Request	FY 2009 - FY 2001 Inflation Adjusted	FY 2009 - FY 2008 Inflation Adjusted
OSHA (in thousands of dollars)
TOTAL	425,886	527,426	486,001	497,101	501,674	(-25,752)	(-4,573)
Safety & Health Standards	15,069	18,662	16,597	16,976	17,204	(-1,458)	228
Federal Enforcement	151,836	188,037	182,136	186,296	194,000	5,963	7,704
State Enforcement	88,369	109,438	89,502	91,546	91,093	(-18,345)	(-453)
Technical Support	20,189	25,002	21,681	22,176	22,632	(-2,370)	456
Federal Compliance Assistance	56,255	69,667	71,390	73,020	76,541	6,874	3,521
State Compliance Assistance	48,834	60,477	52,425	53,622	54,531	(-5,946)	909
Training Grants3	11,175	13,839	9,939	10,166	0	(-13,839)	(-10,116)
Safety & Health Statistics	25,597	31,700	31,522	32,242	34,128	2,428	1,886
Executive Administration/Direction	8,562	10,603	10,809	11,056	11,545	942	489
MSHA (in thousands of dollars)
TOTAL	246,306	298,244	333,925	341,552	332,061	27,030	(-9,491)
Coal Enforcement	114,505	138,650	154,670	158,203	144,982	3,177	(-13,221)
Metal/Non-Metal Enforcement	55,117	66,739	71,420	73,051	82,437	14,179	9,368
Standards Development	1,760	2,131	3,180	3,253	2,831	651	(-422)
Assessments	4,265	5,164	6,134	6,274	5,948	666	(-326)
Education Policy & Development	31,455	38,088	36,605	37,441	36,366	(-2,589)	(-1,075)
Technical Support	27,053	32,756	29,476	30,149	29,117	(-4,386)	(-1,032)
Program Administration	12,151	14,713	16,504	16,881	13,876	(-1,172)	(-3,005)
Program Eval. & Info Resources5	--		15,936	16,300	16,514		214
NIOSH (in thousands of dollars)
TOTAL	260,134	NA	273,863 2	280,118	246,0003	NA	(-34,118)
1Inflation adjustment factors are derived from Table 10.1 Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940-2013, Total Composite Outlay Deflators. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/hist.pdf 2  Does not include $108 million appropriated for the World Trade Center Health Program. 3 Does not include $25 million requested for the World Trade Center Health Program.