Democrats Urge OSHA to Drop Respirator Rule Rollback

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and several other Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) to abandon a rollback of respirator mask regulations. They say the change would weaken worker protections against hazardous substances.

Under the proposed rules, employers would face fewer requirements to supply respirators when workers handle substances including "lead, asbestos, formaldehyde and inorganic arsenic, among other chemicals", the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Osha assistant secretary David Keeling, a former UPS and Amazon executive. The agency is also trying to end a requirement that employers provide medical evaluations to employees who wear certain types of respirators.

The letter says the Department of Labor, Osha's parent department, "is endangering workers and prioritizing the interests of unscrupulous employers over Americans who work hard to provide for their families". It adds that the administration calls itself a "champion of the American worker" but has shown "disregard for workers' lives by trying to roll back the regulations that keep workers safe – even when industry leaders, safety experts and workers raise the alarm".

Process and health concerns

More than 5,000 Americans die each year on average from occupation-related respiratory illnesses. Rates of silicosis and coal-related worker's pneumoconiosis have risen in recent years because of artificial stone used for countertops and greater silica exposure in coal seams.

The letter said Osha issued the proposed rules in July 2025 without providing the required evidence or requesting information needed to implement them. The lawmakers also criticised a procedural hearing in August, held during Congress's recess when no lawmakers were on Capitol Hill. "Most Osha standards take years to move through the same steps these respirator rules have [moved through] in a matter of months," they wrote.

Senators Chris Van Hollen and Cory Booker signed, along with congresswomen Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib and Jasmine Crockett and more than 20 other congressional Democrats.

Unions and medical and industry experts, among them the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, National Nurses United and North America's Building Trades Unions, have warned Osha against pulling back standards. The Associated General Contractors of America, a construction industry trade association, wrote in a comment that "quality safety regulations save contractors money in the long run and any deregulatory benefits associated with the proposed rule will be outweighed by potential liability down the line".

The lawmakers described the rollback as part of a broader deregulatory effort at Osha under the Trump administration. The Department of Labor proposed more than 60 deregulatory rule changes last year. Republicans have proposed cutting Osha's budget by over 8% for fiscal year 2027. In 2025 Osha inspections dropped by 20%, and the agency lost 223 full-time employees to buyouts and early retirements. Osha did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: The Guardian