"OSHA is far too understaffed to fulfill its mandate of reducing workplace injuries," DeLauro said. "Under the Trump administration, OSHA has suffered a troubling decline in both staff and workplace inspections in key areas of the country."

"They really need close oversight because the ownership in those companies doesn't likely have a dedicated safety staff to make sure they're controlling their injuries and illness — they’re more likely to fall off the train,"

industry groups said they haven't noticed a shift in OSHA enforcement under the new administration. But they also stressed that government oversight was not the key to protecting workers.

“That’s because every delay means they don’t have to implement new restrictions or new controls that typically cost them money. It really does come down to a trade-off between private interests and worker safety,” he said.

The Trump administration proposed a 40 percent cut in the budget of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health the nation’s primary federal agency conducting research and making recommendations for preventing work-related illness and injury.

“The Trump administration cares very little about the health of workers,” David Michaels, who served as OSHA administrator for more than seven years in the Obama administration, told ThinkProgress.

OSHA was subject to the hiring freeze that Trump imposed shortly after taking office "to stop the growth of a bloated government," as the White House put it.

“The science behind worker protection is taking a backseat to politics and private interests. All of this is at the expense of public health and worker health,” Rest said.

The Agriculture budget would also reduce funding for USDA statistical capabilities and Service Centers while encouraging “private sector conservation planning.”

The Trump plan would cut the EPA budget by 31 percent, from $8.1 billion to $5.7 billion, resulting in the layoffs of 3,200 staffers.

“Our federal workers already are operating under anemic budgets that preclude investments necessary to enhancing public lands management and expanding front-line staff in our communities,”

Workplace safety did not take center stage as a campaign issue for Trump or any other presidential candidate.

He vowed to eliminate two regulations for every new one enacted. He promised to ease the burdens on big businesses and blue-collar workers alike by stimulating the economy and creating jobs.

On the campaign trail, Trump touted his belief in smaller government with fewer rules and more freedoms.

She expects the Trump administration “will use the full range of its executive authority to reverse, weaken or appeal any of the major rules that have come out of the agencies.”

those reported under consideration for Secretary of Labor have expressed opposition to Obama administration policies, such as paid family leave and requirements widely considered to increase pay equity for women and workers of color.

There is also concern among occupational health and safety advocates about what will happen to OSHA’s already small budget under the Trump administration and the new Republican-controlled Congress.
“We’re expecting big budget cuts,” said Seminario. “We don’t know how deep or how extreme but they could be devastating.”

Also in jeopardy is the so-called “blacklisting rule” published in August, which requires firms seeking to do business with the federal government to report previous labor-law violations. Meanwhile, ongoing but incomplete efforts such as the combustible dust rule and process safety management reform are unlikely to advance during the Trump administration.