This article was originally posted at some time between 2015 and September, 2020. It is being re-posted now as part of our website reconstruction. Some of the dates mentioned in this article may reference the time period from which it was originally posted.
To many safety consultants and employers, OSHA compliance has become a dirty word.
They are coming to the undeniable conclusion that the true goal of a safety program can’t be compliance for the sake of compliance. The goal needs to be authentic injury prevention and the cost savings that go along with it. Smart employers realize that the costs of non-compliance (OSHA fines) pale in comparison to the costs of injuries and illnesses, in terms of magnitude and the likelihood of incurring those costs.
But I’ve always encouraged my clients to not turn their back on compliance altogether. Compliance will always be a critical part of what we do. That fact has been amplified through recent, fundamental changes in how OSHA operates.
Here are five ways that those changes will make compliance much more difficult and important from now, through the foreseeable future.
- OSHA got an enormous raise. In the last budget of his presidency, President Obama, gave OSHA a $42 million increase in funding, including almost $20 million for Federal enforcement programs. This means OSHA will have MUCH more money in the coming years, and a huge piece of those additional funds will be dedicated to inspections. You can read more about this here.
- New penalty structure. For the first time since 1990, OSHA fines will increase significantly this year. While the actual amount of the increase isn’t yet known, it’s believed to be in the neighborhood of 80%. Furthermore, fines will increase every year thereafter to keep pace with inflation. The purpose of this move was to bring penalty dollars up to reflect current price levels.
- New regulations. When new regulations are published, we tend to see a pretty intense period of enforcement of those rules. And in the last few years, there have been MANY new rules, including the confined space in construction regulation, the new crystalline silica rule, the adoption of Global Harmonization System, Minnesota OSHA’s partial abandonment of the Minnesota Employee Right to Know Act and adoption of the Federal Hazard Communication (Haz. Comm.) Standard, new recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and more. In other words, OSHA has many new “weapons”.
- Electronic submission of OSHA logs. Effective Jan. 1, 2017, certain establishments will be required to electronically submit their OSHA 300, 300A, and 301 forms to Federal OSHA electronically. Additionally, OSHA plans to publish each establishment’s data online so it will be accessible to anyone. The rule will affect establishments with 20-249 employees in certain “high hazard industries” and any other establishment with more than 250 employees in any industry. For many reasons, this is an enormous change from OSHA. Until now, OSHA hasn’t had an effective tool or mechanism to monitor the injury/illness data of specific organizations. For decades, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected data on a broad spectrum of industries, but this will be the first time that information on individual employers will be available to OSHA…and anyone else who wants it. OSHA has been very upfront about the fact that they plan to use this data to allocate enforcement resources. In other words, target specific employers for inspections.
- OSHA is spreading their wings. In the past year or so, we’ve started to see some signs of OSHA enforcement activity in some industries that, while technically covered by OSHA, have been ignored for years. For example, retail (see here and here). There’s even been chatter about whether or not OSHA should be regulating professional sports! Even the pornography industry isn’t safe from new scrutiny.
So to summarize all of this; Starting immediately, OSHA compliance will be much more important and difficult. OSHA will have more regulations being applied to more employers. They will have more funding, resources, and tools than they’ve ever had before. And the costs of non-compliance will be significantly higher.
On the bright side, you’re not alone in any of this.