OSHA had only about 862 inspectors in early 2020, according to a Freedom of Information Act response from the agency obtained by NBC News, to carry out all of its regulatory enforcement duties — and that number has trended downward over the last several years. This year, despite new hires, the agency lost another 65 inspectors, according to data obtained from OSHA.

Experts say the agency’s small size relative to its responsibilities means it can’t enforce the rule by deploying a large number of inspectors. While OSHA is now hiring, training takes time. David Michaels, who ran OSHA for seven years, said he doesn’t “think those new inspectors will be out in the field anytime soon.”

OSHA’s legacy as a strained agency means there won’t be an “army of inspectors knocking on doors,” former OSHA senior policy adviser Debbie Berkowitz said.

“It would take 160 years for OSHA to get into every workplace just once,” she estimated. “It’s an understaffed, under-resourced agency to begin with.”