Dr. John Howard, the longtime director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), has been reinstated to his position after receiving a termination notice earlier this year.
What’s more, key programs cut under the rubric of efficiency have also been restored in the wake of a backlash to the agency’s wholesale cuts. Up to 90% of NIOSH’s workforce, including Howard, received layoff notices as the Department of Health and Human Services began moving NIOSH functions into the new Administration for a Healthy America.
The Administration, through DOGE, said in the beginning that it would make mistakes and fix them. Here is clear evidence of its ability to admit mistakes and to correct them.
HHS has reinstated more than 300 NIOSH employees and restored several programs, such as the Respiratory Health Division, Division of Safety Research, Division of Compensation and Analysis Support, and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, which certifies new respirators. Layoffs at the World Trade Center Health Program also have been reversed.
Howard has been NIOSH director since 2002 after serving 11 years as chief of Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. He has been lauded for his work in the World Trade Center Health Program and research on worker health and cutting-edge technology, such as nanotechnology.
Howard noted that while some NIOSH employers were reinstated, others were not. He says he will continue to make the case for restoring the rest and “restoring the agency’s capacity.” Some 600 NIOSH employees remain laid off.
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