Across Roles, Across Sectors: A Call to Unite for Workplace Health, Safety & Wellbeing
Over the past several weeks, increasing concerns have been rippling through the workplace health and safety community - and now those fears are becoming a reality. NIOSH staff terminations are raising serious concerns about the future of evidence-based workplace protections in the U.S.
This isn’t just an issue for public health professionals or safety officers. It impacts HR leaders, researchers, DEI practitioners, managers, mental health advocates, policymakers, and every worker whose job depends on safe and supportive conditions (so, everyone). Workplace health, safety, and wellbeing are deeply interconnected - and we need to be as well.
Now is the time to come together as a community. To share knowledge, stand up for what’s right, and protect the hard-won progress that allows people not only to work, but to thrive.
For those unfamiliar, NIOSH is the research agency that underpins occupational safety in America. It’s the branch of the CDC responsible for generating the science, data, and recommendations that help prevent injuries, illnesses, and fatalities on the job. Its work touches everything from safe staffing standards in healthcare to guidance on how supervisors can better support the needs of their team. When NIOSH is weakened, all workers are put at risk - whether you work in an office, a factory, a classroom, or in a field… we all deserve to be safe at work.
These staff cuts aren’t happening in isolation. They’re part of a broader, more troubling pattern - one that includes a bill to repeal the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the removal of critical safety and inclusion information from federal websites, and a cultural push to devalue or outright erase worker protections in the name of deregulation.
As I shared in our February newsletter and online:
“There’s a saying that ‘OSHA rules are written in blood’ because they were established in response to preventable injuries, disabilities, and deaths in the workplace... Dismantling protections for workers is the wrong move, and we are prepared to lean into our mission, vision, and values to protect the health and wellbeing of all workers.”
Now is not the time to remain silent. These changes may feel distant to some - tucked away in federal departments or niche agency budgets - but they will absolutely impact all of us. When data stops being collected, guidelines fall out of date, or protections are weakened, it doesn't just hurt one agency - it harms the foundation of safe work across every industry.
Here’s what’s at stake:
Research that informs heat safety protections as climate change intensifies.
Guidance for preventing injuries and fatalities in high-risk jobs.
Equitable health and safety practices for vulnerable or marginalized worker populations.
And so much more.
This is not about politics. It’s about people.
If you believe workers deserve to be protected, heard, and supported - your voice matters now more than ever. And if your work intersects with workplace health, safety and wellbeing, this moment calls for more than feel-good messaging.
We need to speak up. Show up. Push forward. Together.
This is one of the reasons I founded Wellbeing Think Tank. I saw how often the work of wellbeing was siloed - in practitioner roles, in training programs, and in how it's implemented inside workplaces. It’s rare to find an integrated, interdisciplinary strategy being executed across an organization. Whether you’re focused on safety, mental health, DEIBA, or employee engagement, we are all working toward the same goals. We need to treat workplace wellbeing as the interconnected ecosystem it is - and that starts with building a community of people who understand that this work is shared.
If you care about any part of this - if you're an HR leader, a researcher, a wellness practitioner, a union rep, or someone who simply believes that workers deserve workplaces that don’t cause harm - you belong in this conversation. What’s happening at agencies like NIOSH is not just a policy issue. It’s a call to action. And we need everyone at the table.
I don’t have all the answers - no individual does. Wellbeing Think Tank doesn’t have all the answers either - no organization does. As I often say, when it comes to wellbeing at work, all you need to do… is everything.
That’s why we exist: to aggregate evidence-based information and build a community of practice, so we can collectively improve the wellbeing of our communities, together.
We welcome anyone who cares about creating cultures of wellbeing to be part of our community.
We host monthly gatherings to connect, learn, and act together.
We share accessible, evidence-based resources to support individual and organizational wellbeing.
We’re building a movement rooted in community, science, and care.
Workplace wellbeing isn’t just a policy priority - it’s a human one. It’s about dignity, safety, and the belief that we all deserve to work in environments that support our full selves.
This is a shared calling. And if you’ve read this far, it probably means you’re already part of the movement.
We’re glad you’re here. Let’s keep building - together.
