Through a national online discussion, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis recently outlined President Obama’s $117 billion FY 2011 budget request for the Department of Labor (DOL), which includes $573 million for OSHA, an increase of nearly $14.5 million. The budget is built around Secretary Solis’ vision of “good jobs for everyone.”
The 2011 budget request augments the 2010 policy of returning worker protection programs to FY 2001 staffing levels, after years of decline. Solis said the department “expects to hire more than 350 new employees, including 177 investigators and other enforcement staff, many of whom will be bilingual to better communicate with employees in the changing workplace.”
The budget request also affirms the administration’s focus on vigorous enforcement strategies with changes planned for outreach, training and cooperative and compliance assistance programs. According to the Congressional Budget Justification for OSHA, the agency “will redirect resources toward reaching out to the most hazardous workplaces and industries, eliminating or reducing exposure to prevalent workplace hazards, and enhancing outreach and education for small businesses and workers who are hardest to reach and most at risk.”
Five Strategic Goals of the 2011 DOL Budget Proposal
Goal 1) Prepare workers for good jobs and ensure fair compensation
Goal 2) Ensure workplaces are safe and healthy
Goal 3) Assure fair and high quality work-life environments
Goal 4) Secure health benefits and, for those not working, provide income security
Goal 5) Foster fair working conditions in the global marketplace.
OSHA Budget-request Highlights
- The budget includes nearly $14.5 million more for OSHA compared to the amount enacted for 2010.
- Enforcement funding will increase by $10 million compared to 2010.
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The budget asks for $573 million for OSHA, which is $14 million more than that agency received in FY 2010. According to Solis, this budget request builds on the 2010 budget policy of returning worker protection programs to FY 2001 staffing levels after years of decline.