Report: OSHA Faces Persistent Inspector Staffing Challenges

A persistent shortage of Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors is a key challenge in enforcing workplace safety, according to an internal report. The report, from the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General, highlights OSHA’s difficulty in deploying enough inspectors to oversee the roughly 8 million worksites under its jurisdiction. The number of OSHA inspectors fell from 846 in February 2024 to 736 in June 2025. “As we have reported since 2022, a lack of available inspectors can lead to fewer inspections, diminished enforcement in high-risk indus...