February 18, 2026 – New Labor Department data indicates that workplace inspections conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration declined by roughly 20 percent during a six-month period in 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. During that same span, findings categorized as “willful violations” — among the agency’s most serious enforcement determinations — fell by approximately 42 percent.
The decline in activity coincides with a reduction in inspection capacity. According to a recent inspector general report, the number of federal OSHA inspectors fell from 846 in early 2024 to 736 by mid-2025. Government workforce data shows the agency has lost nearly 300 employees since the beginning of the administration. Budget projections for 2026 anticipate inspection levels consistent with this lower activity range.
OSHA’s statutory authority remains intact. The rules governing workplace safety have not been repealed. What has shifted is the operational machinery responsible for applying them.
Regulatory systems built on deterrence function through probability — the likelihood that violations will be detected and penalized. When inspection volume and enforcement findings decline in tandem with staffing contraction, the expected probability of enforcement decreases. Even without formal rule changes, the operative force of regulation can diminish as enforcement presence thins.
Authority remains on the books, but the capacity to exercise it contracts. Rebuilding such capacity would require staffing restoration and renewed enforcement activity, not merely regulatory reaffirmation.
Whether the current decline represents a temporary fluctuation in activity or a structural reset to a lower baseline of regulatory presence remains the open question.
This report does not assess the adequacy of workplace safety enforcement or the policy merits of staffing decisions. It observes only how enforcement-dependent regulatory systems behave when enforcement capacity contracts.
This report is part of the NS News archive.