On February 1, President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request for the Department of Labor was unveiled. The new budget is built around the vision of ‘good jobs for everyone’ and includes a $14 million proposed increase for OSHA. The budget request builds on the 2010 budget policy of returning worker protection programs to FY 2001 staffing levels after years of decline.
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis says, “Today’s budget affirms this administration’s strong commitment to vigorous enforcement. With the largest fine in OSHA’s history and more egregious cases, we are sending a strong message throughout the industry that we will not tolerate the endangerment of workers. We will continue those efforts with a number of new and innovative enforcement initiatives in the coming year.”
The FY 2010 budget funded 100 new OSHA inspectors. The FY 2011 proposes to hire more inspectors, as well as shifting current inspectors to enforcement.
