training? In cases where a failure to provide adequate safety training was willful (or in blatant disregard of the OSHA Standards) and such action/inaction causes there to be a work-related employee fatality, OSHA may bring criminal charges against both the employer’s management personnel and the organization. Such criminal violations of OSHA Standards may be punishable by up to six months in jail and a penalty of $250,000 for individuals, and by a penalty of $500,000 for businesses. See 29 U.S.C. §666. Under OSHA’s Multi-Employer Policy, “there are circumstances where more than one employer may be cited for a violation of an OSHA standard, and where an employer may be held responsible for a hazard even though none of its own employees were exposed to it.” See OSHA S TANDARDS I NTERPRETATION L ETTER (July 25, 2003) R E : R ELEVANCE OF NFPA 70E I NDUSTRY C ONSENSUS S TANDARD . . . W HETHER OSHA R EQUIREMENTS A PPLY TO O WNERS (“O WNER R EQUIREMENTS ”) available at https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2003-07- 25. Under the Multi-Employer Policy, OSHA compliance officers must use a two-step analysis to determine if an employer should be cited for a violation. “The first step is to determine if the employer has responsibilities with respect to OSHA requirements.” Id. Such an evaluation is based on an employer's role at a worksite. See id.
“There are four employer role categories: (1) "exposing" - an employer whose own employees are exposed to the hazard; (2) "creating" - an employer that creates a hazard to which a different employer's employees are exposed; (3) "correcting" - an employer that has been brought in specifically to correct hazards; and (4) "controlling" - an employer with general supervisory authority over the worksite with the power to have safety and health violations corrected.”
Id. (Emphasis added). If an employer fits within one or more of the above categories, a compliance officer must next determine if the employer took sufficient steps to meet its obligations. See id . “Only if insufficient measures were taken may a citation be issued.” Id . The Multi-Employer Policy is not one of strict liability. It states that a lesser degree of care is required of a controlling employer than that of the other categories. See id. In assessing the degree of care required, compliance officers are instructed to “consider factors such as the scale of the project, nature and pace of the work, and the subcontractors' safety history.” Id. Personal Injury Claims : Generally, U.S. employees are barred from suing their employers for workplace injuries. The U.S. workers’ compensation benefits system was designed as a “trade-off” where, in exchange for employees giving up their rights to sue their employers for personal injuries, such employees gained the right to receive compensation benefits, regardless of fault. Exceptions to
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