Republican Stupidity Watch: OSHA Edition

Republicans in the House and Senate continue to uncritically support the Trump/Musk dismantling of government. Among the latest moves: unpublishing OSHA workplace safety pages. 

Why? Some idiot in Musk’s DOGE decided that any publication containing the words “diverse” or “diversity” or “gender” should be trashed. That’s part of their war on DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion. Among the pages they trashed: 

• “OSHA Best Practices for Protecting EMS Responders During Treatment and Transport of Victims of Hazardous Substance Releases” (EMS=Emergency Medical Services)
• “Guidelines for Nursing Homes: Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders”

Judd Legum at Popular Information explains that the 2009 publication on protecting EMS responders on page 94, “The publication notes there is a ‘diversity of state-specific certification, training, and regulatory requirements’ for ‘EMS agencies’ and ‘diverse conditions under which EMS responders could work.’”

And the 44-page guidance for nursing homes says on page 10 that “development of MSDs may be related to genetic causes, gender, age, and other factors.” Hardly a woke conclusion. 

The Trump minions are targeting everything that mentions their chosen keywords. They don’t care about overreach. Their motto is “Move fast and break things.” That might work when you are writing computer games, but it’s a lousy way to protect workplace safety.