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Congressional Action pending to require
OSHA to prosecute companies for willful negligence
Legislation is being introduced by US Senator Frank R.
Lautenberg (D-N.J.) to require the OSHA to insure
accountability by prosecution for employers when injuries or
deaths as a result of willful negligence or standard violation
occurs.
According to a recent New York Times article, during the last
two decades, over 1,200 cases were investigated where the
agency concluded those deaths were caused by “willful” safety
violations of the employer. However, in over 90 percent of
those cases, OSHA did not seek prosecution. In a letter to the
OSHA Administrator, John Henshaw, Mr. Lautenberg stated, “This
is an astounding record of failure by the one federal agency
charged with ensuring workplace safety. OSHA's gross
negligence to perform its most basic duties of holding
companies accountable for their failure to protect their
employees, in my opinion, rises to a level where a top-down
review of agency policies is required.”
Mr. Lautenberg promised legislative that will require OSHA to
provide within 60 days of the end of each month, a review of
the number of deaths and injuries reported and any and all
actions taken by OSHA to punish those companies which have
placed these employees in danger.
Company president convicted for giving
false statements to OSHA
The president of a Port Arthur, Tex., based firm was convicted
and then sentenced by the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to
30 months in prison for defrauding the United States Postal
Service (USPS). The conviction was for making a false
statement to an OSHA employee during an investigation related
to an Anthrax decontamination project costing more than 1.6
million in services for the United States Postal Service. In
addition, the company president was ordered to pay
$1,385,971.31 in restitution to the USPS.
The company president pled guilty on July 31, 2003, to a
criminal indictment charging that he falsely represented that
his company’s workers had participated in the required
training outlined by 29 CFR 1910.120 when in fact they had
not.
The company president admitted at the time of his guilty plea
that he knew that his workers had not received the required
HAZWOPER training. The company president falsely represented
that his workers had received the requisite HAZWOPER training
and took steps to conceal the fact that they had not. On Nov.
17, 2001, an OSHA employee interviewed the company president,
who falsely stated that he had given all of his workers 40
hours of hazardous materials training.
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New Data Show Record-Breaking Results From Strong Enforcement,
Compliance Assistance
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao today
released the Department of Labor's annual enforcement
statistics.
Chao emphasized that the department was able to better protect
workers by targeting enforcement at bad actors and providing
tools to employers that help them better comply with the law.
Chao also said workers are safer at their work sites, thanks
to the strong enforcement and compliance assistance activities
of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Chao
said the numbers show the clear positive results of the
Department's new approach:
- OSHA cited employers for 83,760 violations in FY 03, a nearly 8
percent increase;
- Nearly 60,000 of those violations were considered serious, an 11
percent increase over FY 02;
- The most recent data available show the rates of workplace
injuries and fatalities fell to the lowest point ever in 2002;
- Fatalities in all mines decreased by 14 percent in FY 03;
- Total mining injuries fell by 15 percent in FY 03.
For more information visit
OSHA
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Lott speaks at International Society of
Environmental Technicians and National Registry of
Environmental Professions on OSHA Compliance-November 2003
Dr. Lott presented at the annual conference in Orlando,
Florida on OSHA Compliance. The discussion's theme related to
the challanges faced by Safety and Environmental Managers in
attempting to get as much emphasis by facility managers in
safety compliance as is experienced with environmental
compliance.
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Health Consultants,
Inc. Develops Online Safety Training
Health Consultants is developing
a Pay Per View Online Safety Training program to be powered by
Pure Safety, a nationally recognized provider of online, web
based training. This allows HCI to support its clients not
only with its Instructor Lead Programs but gives them access
over the web to the entire Library of training courses
provided by Pure Safety.
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