The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is a federal institute within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NIOSH is tasked with conducting research for the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses. NIOSH also makes recommendations to help further prevent work-related injury and illness.
NIOSH has nine centers across the United States and employees of NIOSH span a variety of fields from epidemiology and medicine to industrial hygiene and safety. NIOSH centers include:
- Center for Firefighter Safety, Health, and Well-being
- Center for Direct Reading and Sensor Technologies
- Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies
- Center for Motor Vehicle Safety (CMVS)
- Nanotechnology Research Center
- Center for Occupational Robotics Research
- Center for Productive Aging and Work
- Center for Work and Fatigue Research (CWFR)
- Center for Workers' Compensation Studies (CWCS)
NIOSH underwent several cuts in early April, including the firing of 900 workers. Some employees have been reinstated, but 425 employees remain on administrative leave, and some may have been included in recent reductions in force (RIFs). The administration’s proposed budget cuts NIOSH funding by nearly 80%. Some of the impacted programs would include the National Personnel Protective Technology Laboratory and the Health Hazard Evaluation Program.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/generalpsychiatry/116465
For more information about NIOSH, including links to each of its Centers, visit:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/about/index.html
Firefighters
NIOSH protects firefighters in a variety of ways, including researching hazardous exposure to burning materials and fire retardants, conducting independent investigations into deaths in the line of duty and recommending future preventions, evaluating the gear and personal protective equipment that firefighters rely on, protecting first responders during public health threats, and many more. The figures below summarize some of NIOSH's firefighter related work.
The Respirator Approval Program and the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, which were shut down in the spring, were reinstated in May. However, the administration’s proposed budget cuts NIOSH funding by nearly 80%.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/centers/firefighter-safety-and-health.html
Coal Miners
NIOSH is also committed to workers in the coal industry with the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP) which studies respiratory disease in miners. The program also provides free black lung screenings to miners across the country. They have provided “more than 500,000 classifications to more than 300,000 coal miners and monitored nearly 22,000 coal miners with black lung” since 1970.
While screenings paused earlier in 2025 have resumed, these Coal Miner programs may be impacted by cuts to NIOSH. The president's proposed FY26 budget cuts NIOSH by 80%.