OSHA Penalties and Cases Decreasing Due to More Safety and Less Reporting

Thursday, December 22, 2016 | 0

The dollar amount of penalties levied against Connecticut companies for OSHA violations dropped by more than half between 2011 and 2015, and the number of cases fell by 40%, the Connecticut Health I-Team reported.

The nonprofit news unit says initial penalties against employers totaled $10.86 million in 2011 and $5.07 million in 2015. Companies negotiated settlements downward to $6.26 million in 2011 and $3.51 million last year.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration points to safer workplaces and increased compliance with regulations, while unions say employers and workers are underreporting injuries, C-HIT said.

“The fact is many employers don’t report when workers get hurt,” Steven Schrag, a member of the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s Health and Safety Committee, told C-HIT. “Though OSHA has worked hard to improve their whistleblower program to protect workers who raise their voice, employees are afraid. For example, more and more construction is not unionized so we don’t know how often OSHA gets called, because unorganized workers are less likely to complain.”