I’ve written extensively in this space on the danger posed to workers in some industries by combustible dust, and how the emergence of that risk revealed the degree to which the Bush Administration has gutted OSHA — the agency that’s supposed to be making sure that your workplace is safe and healthy. But I’ve never really tied all that writing together into one piece that told the whole story.
So I was thankful to see today that someone else has. Robert Lewis, a reporter for ProPublica, published a story today titled “For these companies the penalties are pocket change” that tells the whole grim story of how OSHA’s understaffing and mismanagement has resulted in long delays in enforcement that put workers’ lives at risk — and how the fines OSHA does levy against corporations for violations are almost never collected in full:
After an explosion tore through a sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Ga., this February, killing 14 workers and injuring 40, the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration acted swiftly, announcing an $8.8 million fine against Imperial Sugar for not protecting workers against the hazards of combustible dust. The proposed fine, disclosed in July, is the third highest in the agency’s 37-year history. But if that same history is a guide, OSHA will end up collecting half that much money, or less.
ProPublica reviewed the agency’s previous 25 highest announced penalties. In 19 cases, the fines were sharply reduced after appeals and negotiations, dropping an average of 65 percent. Three others were settled the day they were announced after closed-door talks between the agency and companies. Three remain open. Citations for “willful” violations, which can bring criminal prosecution, were frequently adjusted to lesser charges that carry only civil penalties. Some cases plodded through the system; five dragged out for more than a decade. The reduced penalties are the end result of a system that emphasizes reaching settlements — settlements often proposed by OSHA itself, rather than the company under scrutiny…
On occasion, OSHA has worked out settlements so that the citation and its resolution were announced simultaneously. In two instances, the agency disclosed at the same time both the proposed fine and the lesser amount negotiated by the agency and company that would actually be paid. In three other cases, the agency announced a penalty that had been worked out behind closed doors.
Union officials questioned what incentive companies have to fix hazards when the fines — arguably small as compared to many companies’ bottom lines — are reduced so much that companies can afford to get hit again and again, sometimes for the same unsafe conditions. “For these companies the penalties are pocket change,” said Eric Frumin, health and safety coordinator for the labor federation Change to Win.
UPDATE (Sep. 18): A longer version of the story is now available from ProPublica which includes links to original source materials. Recommended.