Companies that initially deny OSHA entry into their workplace are charged with almost twice as many violations per inspection and are asked to pay on average nearly double the total penalties of those who cooperate with government inspectors. This study made front page Wall Street Journal!
About the same as cheap Russian caviar according to OSHA. Examination of OSHA penalties imposed for workplace fatalities indicates that human life is worth roughly $23 per pound.
Current administrative policy directing OSHA Area Offices to issue repeat violations to certain employers that have been cited for substantially similar conditions within a prior three year period at any of their establishments nationally, may be impractical to implement or potentially unfair.
Over 30% of all complaint inspections performed by Federal OSHA and 18(b) state plan states uncover no violations and over 50% find no willful, repeat or serious violations. These figures were more pronounced for unionized companies when compared to non-unionized establishment inspections. Examination of select corporate data revealed outstanding differences. These findings are significant in that they expose an inefficiency in the current enforcement policy of responding to all formal employee complaints, regardless of merit.
Over half of the workplace inspections performed by 37 federal OSHA and state departments of labor area offices during the beginning of FY93 through April 6, 1993 were initiated in response to employee complaints.
Temporary service companies are in a tough position. They assume workers compensation responsibilities for their employees yet have little control over safety conditions at temporary worksites. If an OSHA inspection of a customer premise uncovers safety or health violations, both the customer and the temporary service company can be issued citations with hefty penalties.
OSHA penalty reductions for all types of violations tended to favor non unionized employers in federal Region VI and unionized employers in federal Region X. Reductions in willful violation penalties were markedly greater for unionized employers in Region X. It appears that federal and state departments of labor may be influenced by traditional regional attitudes towards organized labor.
Approximately 12 percent of all OSHA inspections performed by federal and 18(b) state plan states during the period January 1, 1988 through April 1, 1994 resulted in the need for some type of penalty debt collection effort. These efforts were needed more often within certain classes of employers and for fatality/catastrophe inspections. Willful violators of OSHA regulations were four times more likely to require debt collection activities. Timely and guaranteed payment of penalties could be achieved if the government were to implement certain administrative procedures.
Environmental due diligence has become associated with commercial real estate transactions and encompasses the overall effort to assess potential environmental liabilities attached to a piece of land. However, the concept of environmental due diligence efforts can and should be equally applied to "in-plant" or workplace environmental conditions attendant to a corporate entity. Such an assessment can reduce certain risks when buying a business, hiring an outside contractor or awarding public contracts.
Voluntary public disclosure of corporate environmental problems and progress has gained momentum recently by several groups that promote environmental reporting and responsibility. One area often ignored is workplace health and safety. For reasons subject to much speculation, OSHA compliance and worker safety continues to be given low priority in the growing national trend toward environmental responsibility. Five steps can be taken by employers to demonstrate they are equally committed to environmental conditions inside their plants as they are to those that affect the general public.
A discussion of the major objections to and positive impact of contractor safety pre-qualification screening upon workplace safety conditions.
A brief monograph which recommends contractor selection/debarment guidelines to consider as one proceeds with prequalification or periodic review of outside contractors.
The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has implemented a new policy of withholding disclosure of an employer's violation record for at least 30 days following an inspection, ostensibly to facilitate the completion of "critical" negotiations. It appears the real reason behind this move is to offer expunction of an employer's violation record as a bargaining chip in extracting a promise of rapid hazard abatement. This policy violates the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Freedom of Information Act and creates wider opportunity for potential government misconduct.
OSHA DATA has filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Labor Department seeking continued, new and timely release of OSHA enforcement, employer violation and workplace injury records. The decision to withhold this information has broad public policy implications related to workplace health and safety. Assistance is requested from interested parties by publicizing the case particulars in the press and submission of amicus briefs in support of the litigation.
The Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) version of the June, 1998 Las Vegas Interfaith Council for Worker Justice report which investigated working conditions in the Las Vegas light commercial and residential construction industry (711 KB). The report includes a Code of Ethics for Nevada's building contractors that the group will ask state and local governments to consider when awarding public contracts.
OSHA is one of the most embattled and politicized agencies in the government. In one attempt to quell its critics, OSHA will frequently agree to list certain employer workplace safety violations as "unclassified" rather than as the more reputation-damaging "willful" or "repeat" classification. But this policy can have fatal consequences.
* Or "There Still is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch"
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) substantially subsidizes State programs offering free on-site and off-site safety and health consulting to any US business upon request. These so called "consultation agreements" are authorized under Sections 7(c)(1) and 21(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Careful review of the consultation agreement regulations, State statutes, State-specific cooperative agreements and judicial history suggests several advantages and quite a few potential disadvantages to employers who choose to utilize these services.
This digest collects and summarizes some 400 interpretations of OSHA’s regulations for injury and illness recordkeeping, 29 CFR Part 1904, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) booklet, "Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses" (Sept. 1986) (the "BLS Guidelines"). In addition, relevant decisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), its administrative law judges (ALJ's), or the courts relating to recordkeeping issues are noted. Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file format (220 KB).
That is the question to be answered by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a pending matter brought against the federal Labor Department by OSHA DATA, a private New Jersey public records information service.