OSHA advisor wants repeat offenders behind bars
OSHA chief John Henshaw wants to do something about employers who continually run afoul of safety and health standards, inspection after inspection. Ron Hayes, long-time OSHA watchdog and the newest member to the National Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, has three ideas:
- Don't back down from penalties.
- Put managers of companies constantly in trouble with OSHA behind bars, in prison.
- Publicize repeat offenders by putting them in a "doghouse" posted on OSHA's Web site.
OSHA can't back down, says Hayes. That's the key.
Settlement agreements and negotiations reduce willful penalties from $70,000 to an average of $23,000, serious violations from $7,000 to $650, and result in an average pay-out of $2,900 for repeat violations, according to a new book, "A Job To Die For."
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