July 2010
By: Walter J. Liszka, Esq.
I doubt if there is any reader of this document who is not aware of the horrific financial circumstances the Federal Government is now in. They are looking at every possible opportunity to collect monies to try to reduce our ever-increasing debt and in that regard they are empowering government agencies to increase their enforcement activities.
Beginning in June, 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will commence the implementation of the Severe Violator Enforcement Program. This program will be taking the place of the previous Enhanced Enforcement Program. The agency will increase its level of inspections of previously cited employers who have violated safety regulations and thereby endangered their work force. The new program will call for mandatory follow-up inspections at sites that have been previously investigated and cited for violations to establish that those violations have, in fact, been abated or cured. The program will also establish additional inspections of previously cited employers at other worksites where violations may be occurring. As any employer who has been the subject of an OSHA inspection can attest, it is rare that an OSHA inspector leaves a location without finding some type of violation.
As one could expect, OSHA inspectors will be proceeding with enhanced or bigger monetary penalties. As stated by David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, "For many employers, investing in job safety happens only when they have adequate incentives to comply with OSHA's requirements." Obviously, it must be OSHA's conclusion that agency penalties have not been severe enough to deter employers from violating safety rules. Any employer who has been cited for OSHA safety violations in the recent past (the writer of this article believes that "recent past" means in the last two to three years), can expect revisitation to cited worksites and, if applicable, visitation to other worksites of the same or related employer.
Any questions with regard to this article may be directed to any Wessels Sherman attorney.
