If you think OSHA only issues financial penalties to the employer for safety violations, think again. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued in a News Release how they now handle their collection of data that surrounds workplace fatality investigations.

OSHA instructs its compliance officers to review fatality and catastrophe cases for possible criminal prosecution and establish prompt contact with the victims’ families as part of their overall investigation guidelines.

OSHA places high priority on prosecuting the employer whose willful neglect results in worker deaths. Several years ago, in an announcement of OSHA’s updated instructions, OSHA’s Assistant Secretary of Labor Joseph A. Dear stated – “Obviously the Justice Department cannot take on every case we believe has merit. Nevertheless, we intend to carefully document evidence during our inspections and refer to Justice those cases we think demonstrate employer disregard for employee welfare…” says Dear.

As of March 1, 1996, this has been OSHA’s policy. OSHA will contact the family members of victims promptly to discuss the circumstances of the accident or illness. The family members may be asked for information to assist OSHA in their investigation and the families are subsequently kept up to date on the status of the investigation.

As you may already know, employers are required to report to OSHA within eight hours time any catastrophes/accidents that result in inpatient hospitalization of three or more workers and/or fatalities. These types of reports are one of OSHA’s highest priorities. Only situations where imminent danger conditions which are likely to result in the death or serious physical harm to workers rank higher.

OSHA continues to encourage states operating their own OSHA programs to adopt similar procedures for their fatality investigation guidelines.

Though these cases may seem to be rare occurrences, as an employer you should be aware of OSHA’s position on this matter and the severe penalties OSHA and the families of victims can impose on the employer for willful violations such as these that do continue to occur in the workplace.
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Every day, employees are found in excavations where many of these items have not been addressed, nor a competent person on site who possesses enough knowledge to maintain a safe environment for the workers. The BSL (Bureau of Labor Statistics) reported a total of 33 excavation fatalities in 1995, and 47 fatalities for 1996. Make no mistake…unsafe excavations claim lives!

Excavations Control Measures:

• Make sure that for all excavation work you perform, a competent person with sufficient knowledge has been designated. This person will identify and correct unsafe or unhealthy conditions that exist at your excavation worksite, train employees on the hazards involved and how to recognize them and protect themselves, and inspect/monitor the site on a regular basis for hazards throughout the project’s duration.
• All excavations that are 5 feet in depth or greater, must be shored, shielded, or sloped. When your excavation is less than 5 feet in depth, the competent person must still examine the excavation for potential cave-in hazards and make a determination if protection is needed. Especially in situations where workers will be down on their knees or bent over in the trench working.
• Inspect, inspect, inspect. Conditions can change rapidly posing a new threat or hazard.

Stairways and Ladders – The five (5) most frequently cited serious violations are:

1. Not providing a handrail or stair rail on stairs consisting of 4 or more steps 1926.1052(c)(1).
2. Not securing a portable ladder or having it extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing before workers use it to reach an upper level 1926.1053(b)(1).
3. Not providing a safe means to gain access to a vertical rise in elevation of 19 inches or more 1926.1051(a).
4. Not providing a training program for workers on the proper construction, inspection, maintenance, care, use, and limitations of stairways and ladders 1926.1060(a).
5. Not marking or tagging a defective ladder so that it would not be used before it has been repaired 1926.1053(b)(16).

Stairway and Ladder Control Measures:

• All stairways that consist of 4 steps or more must have a handrail. Additionally, if there is a fall hazard of 6 feet or more on any exposed side of the stairs, then a stair rail must be provided. Stairway landings 6 feet or more above the surrounding area must have guardrails along the exposed perimeters of the landing.
• When you use/place a portable ladder, the top of the ladder must extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing level or otherwise be tied off at the top so that the ladder will not lose its position while a worker is using it.
• Any portable ladders with structural defects cannot be used and must be tagged or marked to indicate they are not to be used.
• Train your employees on stairway/ladder limitations, fall protection features that need to be present, the correct procedures for erecting and disassembling stairways and ladders (especially job-built), and proper usage and handling.Now, let’s take another look at these five areas we’ve addressed as to how much $$$ OSHA has collected from contractors for the 12 month period between October 1995 and September 1996:

Personal Protective Equip. (Subpart E) $2,011,542.00
Electrical (Subpart K) $1,406,972.25
Fall Protection (Subpart M) $4,412,854.86
Excavations (Subpart P) $3,734,628.75
Stairways and Ladders (Subpart X) $ 914,695.02

Total Contractor Cash Loss: $12,480,692.88

If you’re thinking that OSHA is being unreasonable and simply penalizing contractors to line their own pockets, they’re not. The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) can provide you with a year-by-year summary of workplace illness, injury, and fatality cases for the construction industry – which will help you understand why OSHA has such a presence in the industry. However, I will admit that some of those weird cases where OSHA fines a contractor $5000.00 for a simple recordkeeping or paperwork error, I agree – That’s Unreasonable!

Your best defense to ward off potential for OSHA citations and most importantly – worker injury/illness is to regularly inform (train) your workers in hazard recognition. Teach each and every employee how to become OSHA/safety conscious. If you treat jobsite safety as the responsibility of only a few key people in your company, then it will always be an uphill battle and an unsafe situation. When safety becomes second nature to all your employees, then you’re there!

This is part two of a two part series on Frequent Serious Violations. Read Part One