Image Credit: Getty Images / Master Sergeant

A new year has begun, and Synergist staff are celebrating the start of 2026 with a look back on the news stories that most ignited readers’ interest in the previous year. In the spring of 2025, the news was dominated by the second Trump Administration’s drastic reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services, followed that summer by “aggressive deregulatory efforts” directed at the Department of Labor. But the federal government was not the focus of all 2025 headlines. Other top stories included the publication of NIOSH’s updated List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings, OSHA’s 2024 workplace illness and injury data, an International Labor Organization report on the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report about the United States’ largest documented blastomycosis outbreak.

The following were among the top stories that appeared in the Synergist Weekly e-newsletter in 2025.

NIOSH Releases Updated List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings (Jan. 9): The List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings helps employers identify drugs that are dangerous to the health and safety of workers who handle them. The drugs reviewed for the update published in December 2024 were those that received new approvals or safety warnings from the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research between January 2014 and December 2015.

NIOSH Investigates Largest Documented Blastomycosis Outbreak in the United States (Jan 16): CDC’s MMWR for Jan. 2 reported that 162 cases of this rare fungal disease were identified among workers at a paper mill in Delta County, Michigan, between Nov. 1, 2022, and May 15, 2023. Eighteen workers with blastomycosis were hospitalized, and one worker died before the outbreak was declared over on July 1, 2023. At the time of the publication of the MMWR, the environmental factors that led to the outbreak were still unknown.

Trump Selects Nominees for OSHA and MSHA (Feb. 20): The nominations of David Keeling and Wayne Palmer as heads of OSHA and MSHA, respectively, were among several sent to the Senate by the White House on Feb. 12. Keeling was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 2; Palmer was confirmed on Oct. 7.

NIOSH Decimated by Staffing Cuts (April 1): The news that almost all civilian positions at NIOSH were slated for elimination stunned NIOSH staffers as much as outside observers, given that the HHS had announced that NIOSH was to become part of a new federal entity only a few days earlier. A nationwide effort to restore NIOSH commenced, as allies called for the reversal of agency cuts. Although some staff were later rehired, the futures of many NIOSH programs remain uncertain.

OSHA Releases 2024 Workplace Illness and Injury Data (April 24): The agency collects data through its Injury Tracking Application so that increased knowledge of workplace hazards may improve worker safety and health by reducing occupational illnesses and injuries. The 2024 data included reports of more than 1.3 million total injuries, 6,600 skin disorders, 30,000 respiratory conditions, and 10,500 instances of hearing loss.

ILO Report Highlights Risks and Benefits of Artificial Intelligence (May 1): The report, titled “Revolutionizing Health and Safety: The Role of AI and Digitalization at Work,” examined the occupational safety and health implications of artificial intelligence, digitalization, robotics, and automation. ILO found that although these developing technologies can reduce hazardous exposures, prevent workplace injuries, and improve workplace conditions, they also introduce new workplace risks.

ACGIH Board Ratifies 2025 TLVs, BEIs (June 19): The ACGIH board of directors adopted Threshold Limit Values for chemical substances that included copper naphthenate and nicotine. It also approved recommendations for additions to the Notice of Intended Changes list.

“Aggressive Deregulatory Efforts” Include One Final Rule, Many Proposed Rules by OSHA (July 3): The final rule revoked a standard requiring OSHA’s head to consult with the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health when formulating rules to promulgate, modify, or revoke construction standards. The proposed rules sought to remove medical evaluation requirements for filtering-facepiece respirators and loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators, remove respiratory protection requirements in certain substance-specific standards, and more.

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