Washington — A $725,000 proposed cut to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s 2026-2027 fiscal year enforcement budget isn’t a “fiscal necessity,” watchdog group Public Citizen contends.
In a June 30 letter addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), the consumer and worker advocacy group urges the Newsom administration to “immediately avoid making the proposed cuts” and “commit to halting further reductions to this critically understaffed agency.” The letter notes that $16 million was cut from Cal/OSHA’s current budget. The group also calls for better management of the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Fund, which significantly funds Cal/OSHA.
Public Citizen says in a press release that the state fund – which is supported by an employer surcharge on workers’ compensation premiums – reported a $200 million surplus this past fiscal year and is anticipating a $130 million surplus this year.
“Your administration directed that 50% of OSHA Fund revenues, or approximately $100 million, be held in reserve and withheld from Cal/OSHA,” the letter states. “As a result, employer-financed safety funds remain unused while worker protections are reduced.”
Public Citizen cites numerous examples of what it calls Cal/OSHA’s “declining enforcement capacity” and the impacts it has on worker safety, including:
- 95 inspector positions remain unfilled as of Jan. 31, “representing a 35% vacancy rate.”
- Nine district offices are at or above 50% vacancy.
- Four offices lack a district manager, and three have no clerical staff.
- 58% of all Cal/OSHA enforcement activity consists of letter investigations, which require employers to self-report hazards rather than have the agency conduct site visits.
- The state has one inspector for every 99,000 workers. By comparison, Oregon and Washington have one for every 23,000 and 28,000, respectively.
The letter goes on to point out that of the 193 filled compliance officer positions in the state, only two industrial hygienists are available to conduct inspections for heat, silica, wildfire smoke, lead, noise and other workplace hazards.
“The decline in enforcement presents a significant threat to workers exposed to heat,” the letter states. “Cal/OSHA’s heat illness prevention regulations apply to agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, warehousing, and indoor workplaces where temperatures can become hazardous without effective controls. Enforcement of these protections is now compromised.”
In addition to restoring the full $725,000 proposed to be cut from Cal/OSHA’s FY 2026-2027 enforcement budget and directing that the full OSH Fund surplus be made available to Cal/OSHA enforcement, Public Citizen calls on the Newsom administration to:
- Provide a comprehensive public accounting of all directives that have placed OSH Fund revenues in reserve, including the legal authority, duration and specific conditions for their release.
- Authorize immediate personnel actions, including market-rate compensation adjustments, to fill the more than 95 vacant inspector positions, with urgent priority for the nine district offices operating at or above 50% vacancy.
- Redeploy qualified industrial hygienists and prioritize enforcement of heat illness prevention in high-risk industries and regions, consistent with Cal/OSHA’s heat illness prevention standards.
- Restore the proposed $350,000 cut to Cal/OSHA’s Process Safety Management unit, which is responsible for oversight of California’s 13 oil refineries and more than 1,000 workplaces handling highly hazardous chemicals.
