State and federal officials have reached an agreement to help restore state workplace health and safety enforcement efforts to federally required levels.

The agreement, signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Ken Nishiyama Atha, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration regional administrator, outlines ways in which OSHA and the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations are to collaborate to meet health and safety goals and to enforce safe working conditions in the state.

Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health has been operating at diminished capacity since undergoing severe budget cuts in 2009, Abercrombie said in a news release last week. Thirty-two of 51 HIOSH positions were eliminated, curtailing the department’s ability to keep up with inspections. In fiscal year 2009, HIOSH completed 426 inspections, well short of its goal of 835 inspections.

In a 2010 report covering fiscal year 2009, OSHA raised concerns about staff and consultancy reductions, inappropriate classifications of violations and hazards, and the mis-assignment of administrator duties to the department director.

State Labor Director Dwight Takamine, an Abercrombie appointee, said elimination of positions during the administration of former Gov. Linda Lingle resulted in not meeting minimum staffing requirements.

The new agreement calls for supplementary financial support for HIOSH, additional mandatory training opportunities, OSHA assistance in developing a training plan for HIOSH staff, mentoring of HIOSH staff by more experienced federal inspectors, and OSHA assistance in developing compliance assistance programs.