OSHA To Do More (CONT’D FROM PAGE 28)
Mark D. Norton, Director of Norton Safety Services, Tuc- son, AZ. “It’s not really that easy. In cases of an eminent dangerous situation, they have to go through getting a court order to try to get the process or the activity to stop- -but not necessarily to shut down the whole company. And even that doesn’t happen very often.” Indeed, the federal agency can also be helpful. “Many businesses believe that every interaction with OSHA is negative,” says Norton. “They don’t realize that OSHA also provides consultative services at both the federal and state level.” At the employer’s request, OSHA will inspect the workplace for problem areas. While there is no charge for the service, the employer has to agree to fix whatever OSHA finds. “It’s all confidential, so nothing uncovered by the inspectors gets shared with the compliance side.” That proactive approach can prevent costly citations down the road. “It’s very important to take the right steps to reduce the risk of infection in the workplace,” says Prin- cipe. “This will keep employees from getting sick and the employer out of trouble. I encourage businesses to track the OSHA and CDC websites on a regular basis. Know what the recommendations are. Then if OSHA shows up at the door everything will be in order.” Determine Your OSHA Readiness How well have you secured your workplace against the risk of accidents and Covid infections? Find out by tak- ing this quiz. Score 10 points for each step taken. Then
return to earlier CDC guidance which mandated that an illness be designated work related if the employee had been within six feet of another Covid-infected worker for a total of at least 15 minutes. “The agency may start tracking infections down to employer facilities if they can do so and
support the change by claiming they are trying to halt the spread of Covid,” says Principe. Finding Help While the prospect of an OSHA inspection and citations can disturb any business owner, there is some misunder- standing about what the agency can do. “One misconcep- tion is that OSHA can come in and shut a job down,” says
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March 22, 2021
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