OSHA is really getting a boost from the Biden administration.  The OSHA budget was increased from $591 million in 2021 to $665 in 2022. A good portion of the funding will be used to significantly increase the number of safety & health compliance officers.

OSHA had a record low number of compliance officers in 2019, but they are slated to have way more in 2022. OSHA’s manning for site audits will be 32% higher in 2022 than it was in 2019.

OSHA conducted 33,000 inspections in 2019. Based on the increase in workforce, we are likely to have over 43,000 inspections in 2022. What does this mean for manufacturing companies?

The likelihood of a manufacturing company being inspected by OSHA is expected to go up significantly in 2022. Of course, companies with these situations are more likely to be audited than others:

• Companies that have an employee injury with amputation, loss of eye, death, or admittance to a hospital beyond in/out ER (all these require reporting to OSHA).
• Companies where and employee contacts OSHA to complain about a safety issue at the company.
• Companies in an industry where OSHA has a special emphasis program (like the print industry has, as an industry with amputations).

The cost of OSHA citations was bumped-up a few years back, and now there are moderate annual increases in OSHA citation guidelines.

I’ve summarized what we typically see for dollar citations for each violation following an OSHA audits below:

Violation Category               Penalty Low Side                  Penalty High Side

Serious                                   9753                                       13653

Other Than Serious             500                                         8000

Posting Requirements         0                                              1500

Willful or Repeat                  27306                                    136532

OSHA is not allowed to tell us when they will audit our site –We would not be able to put the required programs in place with a few days warning anyway. What sort of fines should a printing company expect if OSHA visits?  There is no cut and dry answer, but history gives us some ballpark guestimates.

OSHA compliance officers are not allowed to ignore any violations they observe. However, they can decide where they will go in a facility and how long they stay. If OSHA visits a company on a non-program audit and the company quickly demonstrates they have an active safety program and decent OSHA logs for the past few years, the compliance officer may decide to not stay very long (Unless they are visiting after a reported amputation, or the company did not provide an adequate response to OSHA after they were informed of a complaint).

The following chart shows typical citation amounts I’ve seen. It is not hard data, but it’s realistic for the DFW area in recent years.

A typical dollar proactively invested in safety will save the company around $3 dollars over time. Improvements in safety lead to less injuries and less injuries lead to favorable Worker Comp rates (potentially saving thousands of dollars a month).  Being OSHA-audit-ready will also save companies thousands of dollars, should OSHA decide to visit, or if the company is sued over an injury.

Most safety efforts are in response to company leaders wanting to provide a safe work environment for co-workers, but there certainly is a strong business case for being proactive in safety as well.

Where does your company fall on the chart above? Where would you like it to be?

     
Joe Eudy is president of Impact Safety. The company was founded in 2005 to help companies build and maintain effective safety programs that employees are proud to participate in. Joe can be reached at [email protected]. Website: www.safeimpact.com