In a recent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission case, Secretary of Labor v. Arcadian Corp., the commission ruled OSHA's use of the egregious penalty policy was not consistent with the intent of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Following a July, 1992, explosion investigation, OSHA used the general duty clause to fine fertilizer manufacturer Arcadian Corp. 87 times for 87 individual employees' exposures to one hazard. Although OSHRC has upheld OSHA's use of per-employee penalties in the past, in this case it argued that the OSH Act refers to employees as a group and did not intend citations per individual worker.