Additional Thoughts On Reevaluating OSHA
I recently reviewed a post by Heather MacDougall about where OSHA should go in the next four
years. Before you read my comments, read Heather’s blog at
https://www.macdougallsolutions.com/post/it-s-time-to-reevaluate-osha
State Safety Enforcement: Sending safety and health enforcement to the states is not
the answer. Currently, the funding and performance of state plans vary widely from state
to state. Some states have significant state funding and staffing, and other states only
provide the minimum funding required to maintain the program and have very limited
staff. The other significant issue is the hodgepodge of state rules and standards that will
likely be created. This is already a problem for employers who work in federal and state
plan states. The safety and health regulatory landscape needs consistency.
Voluntary Protection Program: VPP is a solid approach to managing occupational
safety and health. The program has logged many successes. I personally visited every
VPP site in Tennessee during my tenure with Tennessee OSHA and saw firsthand the
cooperation between employees, employers, and unions who worked together to create
a much safer and more healthful workplace. I will be the first to admit that VPP
participants taught us (OSHA) how to manage safety and health and change an
organization’s culture.
BLS and OSHA Recordkeeping: OSHA Recordkeeping and BLS have real problems.
OSHA frequently insists on requiring employers to record injuries that the average safety
and health professional knows do not reflect the state of safety and health in a facility.
One employee saves the life of another using the Heimlich maneuver but breaks a rib in
the process and receives a prescription for pain relievers: it’s recordable. That seems
nonsensical to most of us. BLS data includes automobile crash injuries and fatalities,
but OSHA almost never investigates them. BLS data includes incidents involving self-
employed workers, but OSHA almost never has jurisdiction over them or investigates
them. In my time with Tennessee OSHA, more than a third of BLS counted fatalities fell
outside our jurisdiction.
Updating OSHA Standard: OSHA standards, in many instances, are so dated as to be
irrelevant. OSHA’s machine guarding standard is more than 50 years old. The LOTO
standard is 35 years old. Employers and employees deserve better. We are all aware of
the regulatory gauntlet a new or revised standard faces, but it doesn’t change the lack of
relevance of many current standards. OSHA compliance officers are left with wide
discretion when applying dated and irrelevant standards, which serves no one.
