Following Executive Order 14192 and driven by a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) unencumbered by facts, the law, or a moral compass, this Administration has proposed eliminating or weakening over three dozen rules—many of which have been in place since OSHA and MSHA were founded. These rules have protected workers from serious harm and death, and their removal would disproportionately impact those in already dangerous and marginalized occupations.
One of the most alarming proposals is the attempt to carve out “Inherently Risky Professional Activities” from the General Duty Clause (GDC). This clause, which Congress wrote into the OSH Act, requires employers to maintain a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm, even in jobs where OSHA does not have a specific regulation on how to protect workers. Under the proposal, workers in occupations such as entertainment, athletics, and other jobs with “inherently risky” activities could be left without protections—especially in areas where no specific standards exist, such as heat exposure, workplace violence, and ergonomic hazards.
This move is not only legally questionable but morally indefensible. It prioritizes entertainment over the lives and health of workers, and cynically allows employers to put workers in harm’s way under the guise of “individual liberty,” relying on the dangerous notion that if a worker chooses a hazardous job, that’s their problem.
Lambert here: And plenty more awful stuff.
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