How OSHA and Workplace Safety Will Move Forward After the Longest Government Shutdown?

The shutdown has ended, but its effects will ripple through workplace safety policy for years to come. How OSHA adapts to this new reality—and how employers, workers, and safety professionals respond—will ultimately determine whether American workplaces become safer or more dangerous in the years ahead.

Key highlights:

• The longest US government shutdown in history lasted 43 days, ending when President Donald Trump signed a funding bill on November 12, 2025.

• Approximately 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, and vital services like food assistance for 42 million Americans were disrupted.

• OSHA's operations were severely impacted, with 75% of its workforce furloughed, halting routine workplace safety inspections.

• Post-shutdown, safety professionals must prepare for increased OSHA inspections and maintain robust internal safety programs to ensure compliance and worker protection.

Is the US government shutdown over, and why did it happen?

The US government shutdown ended after 43 days when President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law on November 12, 2025. The shutdown was the longest in American history and resulted from a legislative impasse primarily centered around disagreements over health care funding, specifically the extension of expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.

Trump signs funding bill to end government shutdown after 43 days. President Trump signed a House-passed funding bill that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history on Wednesday.

Republicans, who controlled the House of Representatives and Senate, passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at current levels through November 21, 2025, but Senate Democrats blocked the measure multiple times because it did not include an extension of the ACA subsidies. The government shutdown began on October 1, 2025, after Senate Democrats rejected the House-passed funding bill 14 times. The eventual compromise excluded the subsidy extension from the funding bill but included a promise to hold a vote on the tax credits in December 2025.

The shutdown caused significant disruptions, including:

• furloughing approximately 670,000 federal employees,

• delaying food assistance to 42 million Americans,

• and causing thousands of flight cancellations due to staffing shortages among air traffic controllers.

The economic impact was severe, with estimates of a $15 billion weekly cost to the economy and a loss of about 60,000 private-sector jobs.

Source: https://nationalcosh.org/2025-10-worker-safety-shutdown

The Government Shutdown's Impact on OSHA Operations

The government shutdown had a significant impact on the operations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This situation has created a challenging environment for workplace safety across the country. During the shutdown, about 75% of OSHA's workforce was furloughed, leaving only a small skeleton crew to handle urgent safety matters. This meant that routine inspections—those regular audits and walkthroughs that help keep workplaces safe—were put on hold entirely.

You might wonder, what does this mean for workers and employers? Well, it created a gap in OSHA oversight where some hazards might have gone unnoticed, and enforcement of safety regulations was limited to only the most critical situations, like imminent dangers or workplace fatalities.

Meanwhile, state OSHA plans in places like California and Michigan continued their work uninterrupted, which led to a patchwork of enforcement depending on where a workplace was located. For multi-state employers, this created a patchwork enforcement environment where facilities in state-plan jurisdictions faced continued oversight while those under federal OSHA jurisdiction experienced dramatically reduced scrutiny.

So, how can safety professionals and employers navigate such periods of federal uncertainity in the future? The key is to remember that workplace safety doesn't take a break, even if the government does. Maintaining strong internal safety programs, thorough documentation, and proactive hazard assessments has become more important than ever. As federal OSHA resumed full operations, expect a surge in inspections and enforcement activities to address the backlog.

In short, the shutdown's impact on OSHA underscores the importance of robust safety management systems that don't solely rely on government enforcement but prioritize protecting workers every day.

The government shutdown created a "snow day" effect at OSHA that will be difficult to recover from, according to Jim Frederick, principal for Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm NexusHSE and former deputy assistant secretary of OSHA under President Joe Biden.

"They're missing whole days right now," Frederick explained. "This is just weeks out of the calendar that will no longer be there".

Source: constructiondive.com

This lost time has particularly significant implications for OSHA's rulemaking activities, inspection schedules, and enforcement priorities as the agency attempts to fulfill its mission with diminished capacity.

How can Safety Professionals prepare for the post-shutdown surge?

While the government was shut down, safety efforts continued as usual. EHS professionals’ roles didn't change. People were still producing goods—from widgets to food products and pharmaceuticals—and industry operations never stopped. Therefore, since industry kept running, safety must remain a top priority.

Once OSHA is fully back up and running, things will ramp up fast. Inspectors will return to job sites where visits were put on hold during the shutdown, picking up open inspections that had been stuck in limbo.

This will require safety professionals to be proactive in managing compliance and communication with OSHA. Being prepared with thorough documentation and ready responses to inspection inquiries will help mitigate risks. Employers should also anticipate increased scrutiny on workplace safety programs, especially in areas where hazards may have worsened or gone unaddressed during the shutdown.

Additionally, safety professionals should stay informed about any regulatory changes or new enforcement priorities that OSHA may implement post-shutdown. This includes monitoring updates from OSHA and related federal government agencies such as the Department of Labor and the Federal Aviation Administration, which resumed normal operations after the shutdown.

By strengthening internal safety management systems and maintaining a culture of safety, organizations can navigate the challenges of the post-shutdown period effectively and continue to protect workers’ health and safety.

Document everything thoroughly

Detailed documentation helps organizations track safety trends, identify areas needing improvement, and ensures accountability among all stakeholders during the federal shutdown period. Safety leaders should thoroughly document all activities, including:

• internal audits,

• near-miss incidents,

• proper documentation of injuries and illnesses,

• corrective actions taken,

• hazard assessments conducted,

• training sessions provided,

• and equipment inspections performed.

The comprehensive record-keeping not only demonstrates due diligence in maintaining workplace safety but also provides essential evidence of compliance in case of OSHA inspections.

Implement EHS management systems

Having a management system in place helps maintain consistency and ensures critical safety activities continue even during organizational changes or external disruptions like government shutdowns.

Programs should include regular hazard assessments, comprehensive training requirements, systematic inspections, industrial hygiene exposure monitoring, and effective management of controls.

Many organizations adopt formal EHS management systems such as ISO 45001 to provide a structured framework for managing occupational health and safety risks. In specific sectors like the chemical industry, initiatives like Responsible Care complement these systems by promoting continuous improvement and accountability in safety and environmental performance.

Stay informed about regulatory changes

After the period of OSHA shutdown some regulations might be delayed. Safety professionals must stay vigilant by regularly monitoring agency websites for the latest updates and maintaining open communication.

💡 Our tip: Make sure you have that open line of communication with your senior leadership about evolving regulatory requirements. When the ground is shifting, everyone needs to be on the same page!

Trade associations and professional groups like ASSP, NSC, or AIHA can be lifelines during uncertain times, offering real-time guidance when official channels go quiet. Webinars and training sessions help you stay ahead of emerging issues, and when things get complicated, legal counsel can help you navigate the gray areas.

This is the reality check! Just because the federal government hit pause doesn't mean your compliance clock stopped ticking. Let's take a look at the industrial example.

Following the OSHA updates to the HazCom program*, the deadlines from the 2024 updates are still in place. 

*The Hazard Communication Program (also known as HazCom) applies to any workplace where employees may be exposed to hazardous chemicals.

Therefore, chemical manufacturers need to provide new safety data sheets with updated HazCom information and regulatory classifications to their customers by January—whether there's a government shutdown or not.

💡 Our tip: Find alternative information sources besides government official websites.

AI-driven solutions for continuous safety

Technology can help you keep safety programs strong and workers protected. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of those game-changers. Embracing AI is the way to stay resilient even when outside factors—like a government shutdown—disrupt normal operations.

The right software, especially the platforms that have some AI capabilities built in, can sift through mountains of safety data, spot trends you might miss, and even predict where accidents might happen before they do.

🦜 For example:

Parakeet Risk's AI Agent - Rosella - can analyze past incident reports to flag machines that need more frequent checks. She will also keep an eye on changing regulations and send you update notifications so that you can be up to date in constanly changing regulatory environment.

Conclusion: Safety Cannot Wait for Government

OSHA now faces the challenge of addressing lost time in rulemaking, managing staffing constraints, and overcoming backlogs while adapting to new leadership and budget realities. Despite these hurdles, maintaining a strong safety culture and proactive management systems remains essential. Employers and safety professionals must continue prioritizing hazard assessments, compliance, and training to protect workers effectively—regardless of government interruptions. By fostering resilience and preparedness, the workplace safety community can navigate future disruptions without compromising the health and safety of American workers.

Sources:

• CBS News, "Government shutdown now over as federal agencies reopen and employees return to work," November 13, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-signs-funding-federal-agences-opening

• BBC News, "Is the US government shutdown over, and why did it happen?" November 14, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrj1znp0pyo

• Wikipedia, "Government shutdowns in the United States," as of November 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States

• CNN Politics, "Government shutdown end: Trump signs funding package after 43 days," November 14, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/government-shutdown-end-trump-11-13-25