Michaels Says Increased Penalty Policy Coming
In a speech at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s Annual Judicial Conference in Charleston, South Carolina on September 14, Assistant Secretary for OSHA David Michaels said a new policy to increase penalties will be launched by OSHA in October. “Next month, OSHA will formally launch a new policy that increases our proposed penalties. We are well aware that our increases in penalty amounts may raise the contest rate, affecting not only OSHA but also the Solicitors’ Office and the OSH Review Commission, but we do not foresee the magnitude of change that occurred when the Mine Safety and Health Act was amended several years ago. Changes to that program went well beyond modifications in penalty levels,” he said. About OSHA’s existing efforts to increase enforcement, he said, “By the end of this month and the current fiscal year, OSHA will have issued more egregious and significant cases than it has at any time in the last decade. We expect to issue 19 egregious cases this year and close to 160 significant cases – including the $81 million dollars issued against BP and the $16 million dollar case against the Kleen Energy facility.” The entire speech can be found at http://osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=SPEECHES&p_id=2299.