Employee Safety

EVERYDAY millions of Americans go to work with the expectation that they will return home unharmed. However, this is not the case for everyone. In 2001, there were 5,900 worker-related deaths and 5.2 million injuries and illnesses according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate for 2001 fatalities, injuries, and illnesses was the lowest since the bureau began collecting this information in the early 1970s, but the rates, most scholars agree, are still unacceptably high. Many of these cases are caused by egregious and willful safety violations. It is very rare for employers to be held criminally liable, let alone be imprisoned, for violation of state and federal safety laws.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is the main federal regulatory agency charged with the health and safety of workplaces for employees in the United States. OSHA was created in 1970 from the Occupational Safety Health Act (OSHA act). The act's stated goal is to ensure that every working person and woman in the United States has safe and healthful working conditions. The law has given employees a wide range of rights. One of these rights requires companies to reduce risks in the workplace, and if there are risks, then employees have the right to fight for their health and safety.

During the 1980s, OSHA's budget was drastically cut and this had a major impact on the ability of OSHA agents to conduct inspections. Inspections are the main tool used to make sure that companies comply with safety standards that are set for each industry. In 2003, OSHA had 1,123 inspectors who were charged with overseeing approximately 7 million worksites that employ over 111 million workers. OSHA had 1,388 inspectors in 1980.

The United States has seen an increase in worksites and employees but a decrease in the number of inspectors. Because OSHA is so strapped for inspectors, it allows many of the states to take over this responsibility. Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 encourages states to develop and operate their own job safety and health programs. OSHA approves and monitors state plans.

The OSHA act provides for criminal sanctions in various situations. If an employer willfully violates a standard, rule, order or regulation which causes the death of an employee she may be held criminally liable. If an employer makes a false representation regarding compliance with the OSHA act this too may make him criminally liable. Employers may be subject to civil and criminal fines and, in rare instances, imprisonment. A willful violation is a voluntary action that is done with either intentional disregard of or with plain indifference to the statutory requirements. Malicious intent is not required to impose liability.