OSHA Crackdown on Severe Violators Nets 182 Firms ABC Recruitment

OSHA Crackdown on Severe Violators Nets 182 Firms

Jul 11, 2011 Career News

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited 182 workplaces—two-thirds of them construction firms—in its year-old severe violator enforcement program (SVEP), according to BNA’s Daily Labor Report (DLR—subscription required).

Using information from a Freedom Information Act request and public records, DLR found that the most common reason for a company to earn a place on the list was what OSHA terms a “high gravity” violation of a safety hazard on which that OSHA has put an emphasis. Those include fall hazards, construction, combustible dust, grain handling, excavation and trenching and several others. Of the 182 employers cited in the SVEP, 109 made the list because of such violations.

The next most common reason (32 companies) for a SVEP citation was a workplace death at a company that had been previously cited for violation that was related to the fatality or other repeated violations.

In a statement, OSHA said it will evaluate the program at the end of the fiscal year. When the program went into effect in June 2010, the agency said its goal was to discipline employers charged with committing serious, and often repeat violations.

Higher penalties and more aggressive, targeted enforcement will provide greater deterrent and further encourage these employers to furnish safe and healthy workplaces for their employees.

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