No timeline to start I2P2, Michaels says

OSHA has implemented a number of programs over the last five years that have increased regulation and enforcement, but when it comes to the agency’s top priority, OSHA Administrator David Michaels is not providing a timeline.

That top priority is, of course, I2P2, or the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, which would require all businesses in OSHA’s jurisdiction to have a safety program. While that may sound good on the surface, the problem is that OSHA intends to lay down specific requirements that businesses would have to meet in these I2P2 programs. That is a bad idea, simply because business environments vary so much.

Michaels reiterated this week, in an appearance at Safety 2013 in Las Vegas, that I2P2 is his “highest priority,” according to an article in EHSToday.

“I know there are people who don’t trust OSHA, who think we’re part of this regulatory state and that regulations are the reason for the [financial] crash in 2008,” Michaels said. “There are people who believe we regulate too much.”

But Michaels contended that I2P2 could have wide-reaching impact without creating economic woes for employers.

However, when Michaels was pressed for a timetable for implementing I2P2, he said he was “hesitant to predict anything.” Negative reaction from businesses may be driving that hesitancy.