One of President Bush's earliest actions was to sign legislation to eliminate the Clinton Administration's regulations imposing mandatory workplace guidelines on ergonomics. Bush promised that his Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would take a friendlier approach to business, offering more help and less enforcement. In fiscal year 2002, which ended September 30, fines issued by OSHA totaled $72.8 million. In Clinton's last full year in office, fines totaled $86.5 million. Although OSHA inspections are continuing at roughly the same rate as in the Clinton years, inspectors are focusing more on education and training, saving citations and penalties for the most egregious violations. Additionally, OSHA is replacing the old rules with a series of voluntary guidelines for specific industries. However, although they are voluntary, the guidelines do not prevent OSHA inspectors from using a broad-based law on worker safety to impose high-dollar penalties on employers that do little to protect workers from ergonomic injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. OSHA also announced its new strategic management plan. Under the new plan, the Administration has three overarching goals: 1. Reduce occupational hazards through direct intervention; 2. Promote a safety and health culture through compliance assistance, cooperative programs and strong leadership; and 3. Maximize OSHA's effectiveness and efficiency by strengthening its capabilities and infrastructure. OSHA's goal is to reduce workplace fatalities by 15% and workplace injuries and illnesses by 20% by 2008. Each year, OSHA will emphasize specific areas to achieve this broader goal. For example, in 2003-2004, OSHA's goal is a 3% drop in construction fatalities and a 1% drop in general industry fatalities. Under OSHA's 1997-2002 strategic plan, injuries and illnesses declined in the 100,000 workplaces where there were direct OSHA interventions, and were cut by 47% at worksites engaged in cooperative relationships with OSHA. In another change, as of February 1, 2004, employers must designate someone at the company to certify the annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. In the past, OSHA required certification only by the person who actually kept the injury log throughout the year, such as the occupational safety and health professional or a human resources manager. The new law is very specific about the definition of a company executive: an owner of the company (only if the company is a sole proprietorship or partnership); an officer of the company; the highest ranking official working at the establishment; or the immediate supervisor of the highest ranking official working at the establishment. An executive's failure to properly certify the summary can result in fines for the company and may increase the penalties for any errors that OSHA discovers. A false certification could also make an executive personally liable for the falsity. OSHA suggested that at a minimum, the executive must be familiar with the OSHA recordkeeping requirements, the company's recordkeeping practices and the company's injury log.
 American Wire Producers Association |
