Your State Better Be Ready to Protect Workers Under Trump
Employees exposed to toxins, extreme heat and other hazards shouldn’t expect relief from the incoming administration.
It’s been hot out there.
Photographer: Matthew Hatcher/AFP/Getty Images
In the late 1970s, when Jimmy Carter was president, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was less than a decade old and still developing basic workplace safety rules. As unimaginable as it is now, workers did not have the right to know the names and toxic properties of the chemicals to which they were exposed, or to be trained on protective measures. OSHA had proposed a “right to know” standard, but it was halted by the incoming administration of President Ronald Reagan.
We are at a similar moment now: We can expect public health regulations to be weakened or stopped by the incoming Donald Trump administration. In response, states and localities need to step in and ensure better protections for their residents.