A U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General said in a report issued Wednesday that it had has to cancel one previously contracted audit of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s pandemic readiness due to budget issues.
The OIG, which had previously audited OSHA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and found issues with enforcement activity and follow–ups, said in its latest report that the reduction of its audit capacity is “particularly of great concern given the detriment” to Department of Labor oversight when it comes to preparedness for future emergencies.
“For example, we have reported deficiencies in (OSHA’s) programs that subjected U.S. workers to greater safety risk despite OSHA’s guidance and actions during the pandemic,” the report said.
“OSHA received an increased number of safety and health complaints during the pandemic, but decreased the number of inspections and most inspections were not conducted onsite,” it said. “We have ongoing and, subject to resource availability, planned audits on OSHA, including to assess the actions OSHA has taken to protect supply chain workers — such as those at online retailers’ warehouses — and the adequacy of OSHA’s plans to prepare for future pandemics,” the report said.
Overall, the OIG says it has had to cancel 10 audits involving the DOL’s response to pandemics.