Departments of Labor and Justice launch initiative to cooperate on investigation and prosecution of workplace safety violations

The Department of Labor and the Department of Justice have established a new initiative to prevent and deter crimes that jeopardize the lives and health of workers. The initiative strengthens the ability of the two departments to investigate and prosecute employers who fail to provide a safe workplace for their employees. Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu joined Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in signing the agreement during a ceremony at the Department of Justice on Dec. 17.

The Memorandum of Understanding calls for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mine Safety and Health Administration, and Wage and Hour Division to investigate and prosecute worker endangerment violations. The worker safety statutes generally provide for only misdemeanor penalties, and the new initiative will encourage them to use the federal criminal and penal code and environmental offenses, which often occur in conjunction with worker safety crimes, to enhance penalties and increase deterrence.

OSHA takes action to help tornado recovery workers stay safe in Texas

After a series of tornadoes struck parts of north Texas causing at least 11 deaths and extensive destruction of property, OSHA moved quickly to ensure the safety of recovery workers and responders.

The Dallas office dispatched three teams of Compliance Safety and Health Officers to the most damaged areas – Garland, Glenn Heights/Ovilla/Ellis County, and Rowlett – and worked with local officials to deliver safety and health information to recovery contractors and workers. The teams also sought to ensure that workers conducting cleanup activities had the proper training and equipment.

“Recovery work should not put you in the hospital emergency room,” said John Hermanson, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas. He noted that workers could encounter hazards related to restoring electricity, communications, and water and sewer services, as well as demolition, tree trimming, debris removal and more. To spread the word, Hermanson issued a local news release urging caution and pointing to OSHA’s extensive web resources on tornado preparation and cleanup. “OSHA wants to make certain that all working men and women, including volunteers, return home at the end of the workday,” he said.

Injury reporting webpage simplified, online filing now available

To help employers comply with new requirements to report severe worker injuries, OSHA has created a streamlined reporting webpage and now offers the option of reporting incidents online. The expanded requirements took effect in January 2015. Now, in addition to reporting any worker fatality within 8 hours, employers must report within 24 hours any severe injury – defined as an amputation, hospitalization or loss of an eye. In the first year of the new requirement, OSHA received about 12,000 reports. The agency plans to release complete numbers and a full analysis of the Year One reports soon.

For more information or assistance with your Environmental and Health & Safety regulatory compliance needs, contact Ralph Carito at Total Environmental & Safety, LLC (Total) at rcarito@TotalEnviron.com or 908-442-8599.