OSHA continuing imminent danger investigations during government shutdown

OSHA will continue imminent danger, fatality, and hazardous condition investigations, along with whistleblower complaint review, during the October 2025 U.S. Federal government shutdown.

In anticipation of the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a plan on Sept. 26 to continue limited activities until Congress and President Trump approve the FY26 federal budget. The plan outlines how many employees will be furloughed and how many will be retained to keep essential operations running.

Of its 1,664 employees, OSHA retains 460, or about 25%. 280 are necessary to protect life and property, and the remaining 179 are necessary to perform activities necessarily implied by law. The Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health is Presidentially-Appointed and Senate confirmed and not subject to furlough.

Follow-up investigations continue for serious violations, statutory deadlines

The DOL’s plan stated OSHA is authorized to continue functions on matters of “emergencies involving the safety of human life or protection of property” until Congress and President Trump approve the FY26 federal budget.

OSHA employees are excepted from suspension requirements in order to carry out emergency enforcement activity in the following areas:

Necessary to protect life and property

• Inspection of imminent danger situations under Section 13 of the OSH Act
• Investigation of workplace fatalities and catastrophes
• Investigation of safety and health complaints or other information, including Serious Injury Reporting, received from police, fire departments, or other first responders, media sources, or employers establishing that employees are potentially exposed to hazardous conditions that present a high risk of death or serious physical harm with the potential to cause death
• Follow-up inspections of establishments with high gravity serious violations and no abatement

Necessary to perform activities necessarily implied by law

• Review whistleblower complaints received during a shutdown in order to identify, and promptly refer to the appropriate agency or agencies, any complaint that identifies a workplace or public safety and/or health condition that poses, or if not referred or acted upon, is reasonably likely to pose, an imminent threat to the safety of human life or the protection of property, thus requiring an immediate response. 
  • These referrals should be made to either OSHA's safety or health enforcement team or to any of the partner agencies that have the authority to investigate the actual safety and/or health concern (e.g., FRA, FMCSA, FTA, FAA, EPA, DOE, NRC, etc.)
• Enforcement activities on open cases needed to meet agency six-month statutory deadlines where those cases establish employees are potentially exposed to hazardous conditions that present a high risk of death or serious physical harm with the potential to cause death
• Orderly shutdown activities
• A minimum number of OSHA employees may be necessary to provide support for emergency operations. In this manner, the DOL said OSHA can maintain a force permitting it to respond to emergency situations and to continue with the enforcement activity essential to protect workers' lives from the most severe occupational hazards.

The DOL’s plan stated OSHA will be unable to engage in enforcement activities other than the activity described above, including any programmed inspections.

OSHA completely suspended the following operations

• Compliance assistance
• Outreach programs
• Training classes
• Technical assistance
• Rulemaking, including deregulation efforts
• Whistleblower protection activities not described above
• Financial and other administrative efforts