Osha enforcement

OSHA's Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations

Here are OSHA’s top 10 violations for 2017

November 1, 2017

OSHA has announced the preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2017.

The OSHA blaming and shaming game

Does negative press change corporate misbehavior?

August 1, 2017

With the virtual halt to federal OSHA press releases on enforcement cases, ISHN asked veteran agency observers and safety and health experts for their input on whether the practice pays off in changing corporate misbehavior.

OSHA’s blame and shame game: Why is it under scrutiny now?

Dave Johnson

July 1, 2017

Since the Trump administration took over on January 20, very little news has come out of OSHA. Their charge from the administration is to keep the ship steady, no new initiatives or anything like that, according to the source, with close ties to the agency.

A FairWarning story

U.S. Senators ask: What’s up at OSHA?

Paul Feldman

May 31, 2017

In the four months since President Trump took office, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued four news releases announcing penalties for job safety violations. By the end of May last year, it had issued 199.

ISHN OSHA survey: Back to the future

Support for a standards halt; more education; expanded VPP

Dave Johnson

April 3, 2017

On February 15, Labor-Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder withdrew his name from consideration after it became clear he lacked the necessary Senate Republican support to be confirmed. Puzder had drawn criticism for opposing the minimum wage and expanding overtime eligibility.

Cone of Silence on enforcement news from U.S. Labor Department

Paul Feldman

March 6, 2017

In November, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced fines against businesses with workers who were killed when they were pulled into a wood chipper, burned in a refinery fire and crushed in collapsing grain bins and construction trenches. In all, OSHA issued 33 enforcement news releases that month, and over 50 more from Dec. 1 until just before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

VPP funding gets a "thumbs up" from ISHN readers

More results from our online survey

February 14, 2017

With a new occupant in the White House, ISHN thought it a good time to conduct an online flash survey to find out what our readers think about the federal agency that most impacts their jobs, OSHA. Will OSHA change under the Trump administration? Should OSHA change under the Trump administration?

From the U.S. Department of Labor:

Putting the brakes on unsafe conditions – wherever we find them

Michael Felsen Scott Miller

January 3, 2017

Nobody would want to drive a vehicle that wasn’t properly maintained and lacked important safety features. Yet at one shipping company that operates nationwide, Central Transport LLC, workers were required to operate unsafe forklifts.

OSHA exposé

Federal agency that protects whistleblowers accused of retaliating against one of its own

Stuart Silverstein

April 14, 2016

For nearly five years, Darrell Whitman was a federal investigator who probed whistleblowers’ complaints about being fired or otherwise punished for exposing alleged corporate misconduct.

DOL initiative will help feds crack down on OSH crimes

December 22, 2015

In an effort to prevent and deter crimes that put the lives and the health of workers at risk, the Departments of Justice and Labor have put in place a plan to more effectively prosecute such crimes. Under the plan, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will work with OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to investigate and prosecute worker endangerment violations.