OSHA is Increasing Its Enforcement Against Safety and Health Violators

OSHA has been increasing its enforcement actions.  OSHA issued, from October, 2009 through September, 2010, 164 citations in significant cases where penalties were at least $100,000. OSHA used its “egregious citation policy” in twenty of the inspections. In an “egregious case,” OSHA cites an employer on a per-instance basis instead of grouping similar violations for penalty purposes. This results in a considerably higher penalty.  Hopefully, such enforcement will deter other employers from acting in the same manner.

OSHA often uses “egregious treatment” when an employer exhibits deliberately violative conduct or appears to be indifferent to employee safety and health or the law.  OSHA egregious treatment cases often arise from inspections following worker fatalities and/or worksite catastrophes (such as explosions).  The most-recent number of significant and egregious cases exceeds the number issued by OSHA during any similar period in the last ten years.

Related articles

• OSHA Renews Agreement with Associated General Contractors of Colorado (eon.businesswire.com)
• Houston Company Cited by OSHA for Paperwork Errors (eon.businesswire.com)
• BP agrees to pay record $50M for Texas refinery penalties (usatoday.com)

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.