As that classic bit of advice campaign staffers gave form President Clinton when he was running for the White House: “It’s the economy, stupid.” (That’s all voters care about).
We’re just getting heated up on the huge debate that will hound development of OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels’ number one standard priority, the so-called I2P2 injury and illness prevention program standard, aka the “find and fix” rule.
From the Houston Chronicle: “Rather than a collection of random incidents, (recent) deadly disasters and the congressional inaction that generally follows illustrate a seriously flawed system of federal oversight in the United States.”
"There's a new sheriff in town," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis warned during her 2009 swearing-in ceremony. Sure enough, during the past year and a half, OSHA investigators have issued citations for egregious violations in 17 cases.
The Labor Department has filed an enterprise-wide complaint against the U.S. Postal Service for electrical work safety violations. The complaint asks the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order the USPS to correct electrical violations at all of its facilities nationwide. This complaint marks the first time OSHA has sought enterprise-wide relief as a remedy. Within the past five years, OSHA has conducted more than 900 inspections at USPS facilities across the country and has issued more than 600 citations.
OSHA is on the warpath. The agency is issuing record-setting fines; every week fining companies hundreds of thousands of dollars; scaring companies into spending more on safety to stay out of trouble. Here are recent examples of OSHA’s new high-profile enforcement:
In a high profile enforcement cases, OSHA recently cited SeaWorld of Florida LLC for three safety violations, including one classified as willful, following the death of an animal trainer in February. The total penalty is $75,000.
OSHA has proposed $112,000 in fines against Home Depot USA Inc., chiefly for failing to correct hazards previously cited at the retail chain's West Nyack, N.Y., store.
OSHA has cited Worthen Industries Inc., a Nashua, N.H., manufacturer of glues and adhesives, and S.L. Chasse Welding & Fabrication Inc., a Hudson, N.H., steel erection contractor, for alleged violations of workplace safety standards following a Jan. 23 explosion at Worthen's manufacturing plant, according to an agency press release. Combined penalties against the two employers total $257,500.
ORC Worldwide, an environmental health and safety global consultancy based in D.C. with a client roster of many of the world’s largest companies, issued a generally favorable position piece on HR 5663.
The House Education and Labor Committee approved July 21 legislation that would increase criminal and civil penalties for OSHA violations, strengthen whistleblower protections and speed up hazard abatement. The Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act (H.R. 5663), passed on a largely party line vote of 30-17, would also provide stronger enforcement tools to the Department of Labor to enforce mine safety regulations.
President Obama has sent a memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies outlining a new plan to protect Federal workers on the job: “The Presidential POWER Initiative: Protecting Our Workers and Ensuring Reemployment.”
OSHA has announced a new rule addressing the use of cranes and derricks in construction, which will replace a decades-old standard. Approximately 267,000 construction, crane rental and crane certification establishments employing about 4.8 million workers will be affected by the rule.
During the national meeting of the American Society of Safety Engineers last week in Baltimore, ISHN spoke to a safety and health consultant who said, “The new OSHA is manna from heaven. Don’t quote me on that.”
Promulgating a sweeping injury and illness prevention program standard, (I2P2) which would require employers to find and fix hazards, and modernizing OSHA’s injury and illness data collection system are the top priorities OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels wants to see completed during his time at the agency, he told a group of reporters following his speech last week to about 500 safety and health pros at ASSE’s national meeting in Baltimore.
OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels made his first appearance at a national ASSE meeting last week in Baltimore. ISHN learned from sources that ASSE’s 32,000 members by and large like what they’ve seen from Dr. Michaels since he took over the agency earlier this year.
There’s no let up in OSHA’s enforcement surge. And no surprises, either. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and then-acting OSHA chief Jordan Barab said one year ago at the ASSE national meeting in San Antonio that there was a new sheriff in town. Here’s what the sheriff has been up to in the past 30 days:
OSHA has announced today that the Severe Violators Enforcement Program (SVEP) directive became effective June 18th. The agency announced in April that it was implementing the program to focus on employers who continually disregard their legal obligations to protect their workers.
Appearing together at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce) in Denver on Wednesday, OSHA chief David Michaels, PhD, MPH, and NIOSH Director John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, found common ground on many issues, including the need to update OSHA’s Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs), reports the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Melissa Hurley.
OSHA deputy assistant secretary Jordan Barab on 5/19 addressed the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association’s National Safety Conference in San Antonio, Texas. “The ringing in your ears an hour or two ago wasn't just the alarm clock by your bed. It was a wake-up call for everyone in your business,” he told attendees.
OSHA this week announced in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) its plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces.
Earlier this year OSHA held a day-long marathon “OSHA Listens” webcast with agency honcho Dr. David Michaels listening for nine hours to opinions across the country about what issues the agency should and should not tackle in the next few years. ISHN asked readers to prioritize from a list of agency-related issues, and a number of safety pros echoed the sentiments of this professional:
OSHA held the first of two stakeholder meetings this week to gather input for what it calls “modernizing” occupational safety and health recordkeeping.
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has “introduced bipartisan legislation to protect a key voluntary workplace safety program cut out of the administration’s budget proposal,” according to a press release issued by his office.
“It's back to Eula Bingham,” says one consultant, who is quoted anonymously here because he corresponded with ISHN in a private email exchange. “Confrontation city all over again. ‘Don't come in here complaining about what I do — this is the Department of Labor, not business,’ she is reported to have said.
“It has been four decades since the Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act,” said Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO’s national director of safety and health at a Senate hearing in late April.
Here, courtesy of a post on ORC Worldwide’s web site, is the line-up of OSHA standard-setting actions, issued by the Department of Labor in late April. ORC Worldwide is a global environmental health and safety consultancy based in Washington, DC.
One of OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels’ top priorities appeared for the first time in the OSHA standards-setting agenda released April 26 by the Labor Department — the creation of standard requirements for an injury and illness prevention program.
Modernizing OSHA’s reporting system is one of the most significant developments in the most recent OSHA standards-setting agenda released April 26 by the Labor Department.
Here are excepts of a speech OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels made in February before an elite audience of Fortune 500 safety and health executives at the quarterly meeting of ORC Worldwide’s Occupational Safety and Health Group and Corporate Health Directors Network.
