OSHA raising fines

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iwire

iwire

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A quick run down


  • Serious, Other-Than-Serious and Posting Requirements moving from $7,000 per violation to $12,471 per violation.
  • Failure to Abate moving from $7,000 per day beyond the abatement date to $12,471 per day beyond the abatement date
  • Willful or Repeated moving from $70,000 per violation to $124,709 per violation.



That repeated one will bite you, a simple thing like having a ladder on site missing safety stickers it can cost you $12K the first time and if it happens again it will be $125K


https://www.osha.gov/penalties.html
 
iwire said:
a simple thing like having a ladder on site missing safety stickers it can cost you $12K the first time and if it happens again it will be $125K


https://www.osha.gov/penalties.html
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I looked and looked, and can't find an OSHA standard that requires safety stickers on ladders (not that some over-zealous compliance officer won't write such a citation). Trouble is, only about 6% of OSHA citations are contested, because it's often cheaper to write a check--without understanding the "opportunity cost." Bidding on a commercial job, one question usually comes up: Have you had any serious OSHA citations in the past x years. Answer yes, and you don't get the job. So why pay a few hundred bucks and risk losing much, much more?

The first step is to go to the informal conference and plead your case. Often you can get a serious violation dropped or reduced to other-than-serious. You don't need a lawyer for that. Most people stop there if they don't succeed. Don't give up.

If you don't succeed, give them a note before you leave that says, "We contest citation number x." That bumps the negotiation up to the Labor Dept. solicitor. Sometimes the solicitor will cut a deal because that's cheaper than litigation. You don't need a lawyer for that, either (but you may want to hire one, depending on your case). And, if you're not getting anywhere, you can just pay up. If you do have to hire a lawyer, OSHA's got a program for small business whereby the government pays for your lawyer (sort of like a public defender).

The point is, they're counting on you to roll over. Don't.
 
wtucker said:
I looked and looked, and can't find an OSHA standard that requires safety stickers on ladders (not that some over-zealous compliance officer won't write such a citation).
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There is no requirement for labels, but if the manufacturer provided them they must be maintained.

For sure more people should fight fines, the company I work for does but in many cases they won't take away the fine just reduce it so you are stuck for a potential 125K fine if it happens again in 7(?) years.

How many new ladders can you buy with 125k? The risks outweigh the rewards by a long shot.
 
iwire said:
Close up shop and open under a new name, I think that is what the roofers around me do. :roll:
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Too true about roofers.:happyyes:

Generally something like this-

John Smith roofs>J. Smith roofing>Smith roofing>Smith bros roofing>Roofs by John>Smith general contracting (whose advertised specialty is roofing)..........
 
wtucker said:
No. I looked further and found this: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=19130
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That is 1983 and does not dispute my claim that factory installed labels must be maintained.

I will ask our corporate safety director what section he feels applies.

But you seem to be determined about this so let's say you are right about stickers

Something as simple as a lightly damaged ladder step can lead to $125K fine.

Is that worth the gamble it to you?
 
iwire said:
Something as simple as a lightly damaged ladder step can lead to $125K fine.
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Absolutely right! But any serious violation--not willful or repeated--can be $12,500! Lots of companies can't afford that!

A friend of mine put up a string of temp lights on a 12-ft. ceiling. Three weeks later, the masons were on a scaffold below the temps, and one of the wire nuts came off. The electrician was fined as the "creating contractor" under the multi-employer citation policy, even though he hadn't been on site for three weeks and there was no evidence that the lights were put up improperly to begin with. (I don't know whether his contract included maintenance of the lights, but even if it did, there was no evidence that he'd been told of the problem. BTW, the mason was cited, too.) I think he got it dropped at the informal conference. Lots of folks wouldn't have tried.
 
wtucker said:
Absolutely right! But any serious violation--not willful or repeated--can be $12,500! Lots of companies can't afford that!

A friend of mine put up a string of temp lights on a 12-ft. ceiling. Three weeks later, the masons were on a scaffold below the temps, and one of the wire nuts came off. The electrician was fined as the "creating contractor" under the multi-employer citation policy, even though he hadn't been on site for three weeks and there was no evidence that the lights were put up improperly to begin with. (I don't know whether his contract included maintenance of the lights, but even if it did, there was no evidence that he'd been told of the problem. BTW, the mason was cited, too.) I think he got it dropped at the informal conference. Lots of folks wouldn't have tried.
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Fined or cited? How does that work? I hope there is some pertinent information not given here...
 
iwire said:
I do not believe they every give a citation without a fine of some sort.
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Montana does. I was driving through there years ago, and got pulled over for running a stop sign. The stop sign was at a (private) gas station for when pulling out onto the highway - kinda strange IMO. So the cop says he is giving me a "written warning."
"What is that?" I inquire
"Its a written warning. How much have you had to drink tonight? Any drugs?" he says, seemingly quite astonished at the question.
just seemd strange to me. What does the paper accomplish?
 
electrofelon said:
Montana does. I was driving through there years ago, and got pulled over for running a stop sign. The stop sign was at a (private) gas station for when pulling out onto the highway - kinda strange IMO. So the cop says he is giving me a "written warning."
"What is that?" I inquire
"Its a written warning. How much have you had to drink tonight? Any drugs?" he says, seemingly quite astonished at the question.
just seemd strange to me. What does the paper accomplish?
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I was talking about OSHA.

As far as traffic enforcement they give written warnings here as well. What it means is no fine but it is in the record and if you get pulled over again and they run your license it shows up.

I used to listen to the police scanner for my area and the dispatcher would tell the cops things like how many times someone has been pulled over etc.
 
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