About the Guest:
Jordan Barab ran AFSCME’s safety program in the 1980s before becoming OSHA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary under President Obama for nearly eight years. He now channels that experience into his hard-hitting blog Confined Space, chronicling weekly tolls of workplace fatalities and the politics that shape them.
Jordan’s philosophy:
I didn’t insert politics into health and safety—I just try to explain it.
Episode Highlights:
⚖️ The Labor-Management Battle
Barab explains why occupational safety remains deeply political despite seemingly universal support for workers coming home alive.
📉 The 185-Year Inspection Crisis
Discover OSHA’s staggering resource gap: with current staffing, it would take 185 years to inspect every U.S. workplace just once.
💸 Penalties That Don’t Deter
Learn why OSHA fines are “peanuts” for large employers.
🔬 NIOSH: The Research Pipeline Under Threat
Explore how the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provides the scientific foundation for workplace safety—and how the Trump administration is dismantling it.
🌡️ Climate Change and Unfinished Standards
Discover why critical protections remain incomplete despite urgent need.
🕳️ Coverage Gaps and Forgotten Workers
Learn about the millions of workers OSHA doesn’t protect.
📩 Contact & Resources
* https://jordanbarab.com/confinedspace/
