More than a dozen workplace security training centers across the United States can be forced to shut down to the end of summer, as the cost of the Trump administration is effective in a major federal health agency under the cost drive.The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which supports training and research for some of the country’s most dangerous jobs, has lost about 90% of its workforce. According to the union data viewed by Reuters, only 125 out of about 1,000 employees were left after job cuts on 1 April.Although 300 employees were re -placed in May, the team managing 12 centers for agriculture safety and health, which supports fishing, farming and logging workers, was not part of it. Because of this, many centers are getting ready to close because their funding comes out.Training programs by groups such as Fishing Partnership Support Services (FPSS) and Alaska Marine Safety Education Association face a possible shutdown by July or September. These programs have provided important hand security training to thousands of workers, including how to handle the fire, administration of first aid, deploying life raft and using emergency radio equipment.Without these federally funded courses, experts warned that more workers would be risk and the burden on rescue services could increase.“The government’s return to investment is huge,” said John Roberts, a retired Coast Guard Officer and FPSS instructor. “If they give us this money to do this training, then it is going to reduce how much money you have to spend to save the untrained.”The US Health and Human Services Department, which oversees NIOSH, said in a statement, “The work will continue. HHS supports farmers, fishermen and logging workers of America. “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior defended the deduction of employees in March, which requires the bureaucracy to streamline.This decision comes despite the fact that fishing, farming and logging remain the deadliest industries in the US. Jointly, they represent a small portion of the national workforce, but in 2023 recorded a deadly injury rate of 24.4 of 100,000 workers seven times per 100,000 from the national average.Many of the affected workers work in remote places where emergency medical care can be delayed in hours. Over the years, NIOSH-supported centers have helped reduce those risks through safety research, direct education and public health outreach.In 2024 alone, the Northeast Center trained more than 5,600 workers for business health and safety. Other centers have introduced mobile health clinics, mental health assistance and opioid overdose prevention in rural areas.But with grant funding to end between July and September, many of these initiatives are in danger. At the South -East Coastal Agricultural Health and Safety Center in Florida, employees have already begun to discontinue research programs and activist outreach efforts.“We are stopping direct education to workers, we are shutting down research,” said Director J. Glenn Morris.Although some industry groups provide private training, the cost remains a barrier for many. Without constant federal support, security experts are afraid that many weak labor will lose access to life -saving resources.
