USA: OSHA Enforcement Activity Down as Fatalities Rise

New data from OSHA shows safety enforcement activity with the agency has dropped sharply, and that it now has the lowest number of health and safety inspectors in its 48-year history.

The National Employment Law Project’s (NELP) analysis of recent Government data also found that workplace fatality investigations are at decade-high levels – climbing to 929 investigations in FY 2018, up almost 100 from the previous year.

Debbie Berkowitz, NELP’s program director for worker health and safety, and a former senior official with OSHA, said the latest data from OSHA was “very alarming”.

“We’re seeing huge red flags in the continued drop in enforcement and staffing at OSHA, while the number of workplace fatality investigations is at a decade high. That’s a clear indication that workplace deaths are on the rise.”

Berkowitz also accused OSHA of cutting back on complicated, high-impact safety and health inspections, and prioritizing quick and easy inspections.

“When inspectors go onto a construction site, they can inspect multiple subcontractors all at once, but count each one as a separate inspection. They can get through these sites in a few hours, and count four to five inspections.”

Berkowitz also said OSHA was issuing significantly less public notices about its enforcement activity, thereby abandoning the deterrent effect this publicity creates.

“Because it would take 150 years for the agency to inspect every workplace under its jurisdiction just once, OSHA must be able to encourage employers to provide a safe workplace without a visit from an OSHA inspector.”

“The reality is that for some employers, it is only the threat of an inspection that motivates them to comply with the law. Publicity about OSHA’s enforcement activities can be a strong deterrent for employers who may be inclined to cut corners on safety.”

OSHA’s reduced enforcement activity:

• OSHA conducted one-third the number of inspections involving hazards causing musculoskeletal disorders (ergonomics), even though musculoskeletal disorders are the number one work-related illness reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

• OSHA reduced by almost half the number of inspections to protect workers from dangerous levels of heat, even though 2018 was one of the U.S.A.’s hottest years on record

• OSHA conducted one-third the number of inspections where an individual workers’ levels of exposure to dangerous chemicals was measured

• OSHA reduced by one-quarter the number of inspections involving preventing explosions from combustible dust
• Most alarming, the number of significant cases (high-penalty cases) has dropped by half