OSHA Notifies 'Worst' Offenders

May 4, 1999 3:35 PM, EDT

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is telling 12,500 businesses in 18 industries on its “Most Wanted” list to shape up. That is all the agency can do since a federal court struck down its “voluntary” compliance program for addressing worker injury and illness problems.

However, OSHA has its eye on the 2,200 workplaces that it says have the greatest hazards. They will get unannounced inspection visits, the agency said (4-26, p. 5).

Among the industries targeted by OSHA are several with ties to trucking, specifically terminal facilities, public warehousing and storage operations, and local trucking companies that offer storage.

The notices and high-hazard targeting came after a federal judge shot down OSHA’s Cooperative Compliance Program, which gave employers the choice between adopting safety and health programs stricter than the law requires in order to lower their chances of being inspected or opting out and guaranteeing themselves a visit from inspectors (4-19, p. 1).

The businesses that received letters from OSHA are the same companies offered the opportunity to participate in compliance program. The agency singled them out because a survey found that they had eight or more work-related injuries or illnesses that resulted in lost work days for every 100 full-time employees. The safety agency said the national average is 3.3 injuries for every 100 workers.

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