February 21, 2025
3 min read
Health and safety agency purged “diversity” documents, but they were wen'st about dei
Osha webpages removed for containing the word “diversity” Had no relation to gender or racial diversity
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an arm of the labor department, washington dc
Climatewire | A number of safety documents containing the word “diversity” was removed from the department of labor website. But they were weight the kind of Racial and Gender Diversity Programs that the department of government efficiency has been targeting.
INTEAD, they dealt with the divese size and shape of firefighters – a detail that helps them properly fit into safety equipment like ventilator masks. Another document that was taken down pointed to the diverse set of situations that first responders might be working in.
Their Removal was prompted by presiding donald trump's Executive Order to End Federal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Initiatives, as well as white houses to stopping “Gender ideology.”
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The Trump Administration has been searching for there terms in programs, grants and documents to trigger funding freezes and to shutter initiatives aimed at counteryacing discrimination based on PEOPLE and Disability.
Larges swaths of government webpages have been taken offline in the past month as a result. That Includes A 2015 Guide from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an arm of the labor department, about restroom access for transgender workers. The Removed Document Cited Osha's Sanitation Standard Requiring Employers to Provide Workers with Toilet Facilites.
Accessed via the internet archiveThe 2015 guide notes that osha has long interpreted that standard to mean “Employers may not impose unreasonable restrictions on Employee use of toilet facilities.” It also explains that “Bathroom restrictions can result in employees avoiding using restroms entryly while at work, which can lead to potentially serial engine or ollens.”
Other documents that was removed inc Lude Guidance for First Responders when they Treat and Transport Victims of Chemical Releases and Guidance for Small Busines About What Personal PROSONAL PROSONAL PROTUPMENT, SUCH As Respirators, they should use in Diverse Scenarios.
Osha did not respond to requests for comment. But emails obtained by the website Popular information Show Osha Public Affairs Officials Announcing to Agency Staff that the publications were removed from the website and will not be distributed from Osha's Warehouse. The Feb. 7 email said, “If you have wallet cards that include language, or can be interpreted, on deia or gender ideaology, please dispose of them as well.”
The Purge has caused the attention of lawmakers. House democrats on the education and workforce committee Wrote a letter To Vince Micone, Acting Secretary of Labor, to Raise their Concerns Last Week.
“If erasing these documents relates to President Trump's Executive Orders on So-Called 'Gender Ideology' and 'Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a list of banned words, without any regard for the context in which the words are used, ”they write.
The Removed Guidance About Treating Victims of Chemical Exposures DesCribes Description Responders as a “DiversE Group,” Reference Not Race and Ethnicity but “The Diverse Conditions UNDERS UNDERS UNDERS Responders Cold Work, “Such as full time, part time or as Volunteers. “Their risks vary with their primary and secondary roles,” said the guidance, Which is accessible only via the internet archive,
Other Removed Documents Provided Guidance for Properly Fitting Respirators for Health Care Professionals. It mentions gender only to note that protocol for testing the masks has a “Built-in capability to [adapt for] Unique Work Rate, Mask and Gender Situations that might apply in a specific workplace. “
That document is among a less that have been reposed to osha's website this week after house democrats raised concerns.
But other documents – Including those about the first responders and workplace Violence in Health Care Settings – remained offline as of chiursday afternoon.
Reprinted from E & e news With permission from Politico, LLC. Copyright 2025. E & E News Provides Essential News for Energy and Environment Professionals.
