OSHA watch
OSHA increases penalties, launches Severe Violators
enforcement Program (SVEP)
A yearlong OSHA study found current assessed penalties
“are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect” and OSHA has responded
by announcing increased penalties and a severe violators program. Under
the new policy, the average penalty for a serious violation will increase
from about $1,000 to an average of $3,000 to $4,000. The current maximum
penalty for a serious violation, one capable of causing death or serious
physical harm, is $7,000 and the maximum penalty for a willful violation
is $70,000. These will change to $12,000 and $250,000, respectively. Future
penalty increases will be tied to inflation.
Other changes to the penalty
calculation system include: expanding the time frame for considering an
employer’s history of violations from three years to five years; increasing
penalties by 10% for employers who have been cited for any high-gravity,
serious, willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations within the previous
five years; increasing the minimum penalty for a serious violation to $500;
and limiting the ability of an OSHA area director to reduce fines to 30%.
The
violator enforcement
program ,
which goes into effect this month targets "recalcitrant
employers who endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities
under the law.” This supplemental enforcement tool includes increased OSHA
inspections in these worksites, including mandatory OSHA follow-up inspections,
and inspections of other worksites of the same employer where similar hazards
and deficiencies may be present.
Letters of interpretation
OSHA recently released several letters of interpretation covering topics
such as fall protection exemptions, permissible methods of operating
trucks in reverse on construction sites, space between scaffold planks
or between scaffold planks and uprights, distance required between guardrails
on an industrial truck work platform, whether an employer can repair
an extension cord under 29 CFR 1926, Subpart K, and clarification of
specialty footwear and employer requirements to provide at no cost to
its employees. View
the letters here.
Understanding OSHA recordables
Understanding your responsibilities related to OSHA recordables can be
a challenge. A great resource is the Advanced
Safety and Health News Blog.
There are helpful quizzes as well as articles. Here’s one example:
Quiz #10:
Here is the scenario:
An employee reports to work. A few hours later, the employee goes outside
for a “smoke break.”
The employee slips on the ice and injures his back. Since the employee
was not performing a task related to the employee’s work, the company has
deemed this incident non-work related and therefore not recordable.
Right or wrong?
Response
Under Section 1904.5(b)(2)(v), an injury or illness is not work-related
if it is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks (unrelated
to their employment) at the establishment “outside of the employee’s assigned
working hours.” For this exception to apply, the case must meet both of
the stated conditions. The exception does not apply here because the injury
or illness occurred within normal working hours. Therefore, your case in
question is work-related, and if it meets the general recording criteria
under Section 1904.7 the case must be recorded.