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​

* LinkedIn

* https://jordanbarab.com/confinedspace/

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