OSHA has employed many creative strategies to maximize its enforcement efforts during the Obama administration. One such tactic involves scrutinizing employers with multiple worksites (retailers are a particularly easy target), sending compliance officers to inspect one of the worksites, issuing citations, and then visiting the employer’s other worksites, identifying the same problems found in the first worksite inspected, and issuing repeat citations to the employer based on the citation issued at the original worksite. This approach gives OSHA significant bang for its buck, not only creating the opportunity to issue more citations by inspecting multiple facilities, but also making it possible for the agency to issue costly repeat citations, which carry fines as much as ten times higher than the current limit on citations classified as serious.
This is what happened to Dollar Tree Stores Inc. (Dollar Tree), which recently entered into a corporate-wide settlement agreement with OSHA to resolve citations arising from 13 different inspections – many involving blocked emergency exits, obstructed access to exit routes, electrical equipment, and improper storage of merchandise. The settlement applies to some 2,400 Dollar Tree stores throughout the United States subject to regulation by Federal OSHA, but state plans having Dollar Tree stores located in their jurisdiction have been strongly encouraged to adopt the parameters of the settlement agreement as well.
Dollar Tree must pay $825,000 in fines to resolve the citations, but that is just the beginning. In addition, the retailer must provide immediate safety training in its stores in a manner that all employees are able to comprehend, abate the issues identified in the inspections as quickly as possible, issue a newsletter regarding health and safety issues to its employees at least quarterly, submit to multiple safety audits at stores selected by OSHA, and quickly address any issues identified in the audits.
Dollar Tree must also put a number of additional administrative and engineering controls in place, but what is perhaps the most onerous element of the agreement is that it requires the employer to adopt a safety and health program focusing on the core elements included in OSHA’s Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines (Guidelines). The Guidelines were originally published in 1989, but major revisions have recently been published and OSHA is welcoming comments on the new version through February 15, 2016.
Dollar Tree must design a program that focuses on the core elements set forth in the 1989 Guidelines, as the revised version has not yet been finalized. Specifically, the retailer must: (1) demonstrate its commitment to workplace health and safety; (2) involve employees in the safety and health program; (3) identify health and safety hazards; (4) control health and safety hazards; (5) provide education and training for all employees related to the safety and health program; and (6) evaluate the safety and health program. Essentially, the settlement agreement requires the employer to create a culture of safety throughout the organization. Although Dollar Tree is required to create a program addressing all of these elements, the Guidelines are not prescriptive. OSHA recognizes that every business is different and offers a non-exhaustive list of possibilities that employers could choose from in creating a safety and health program that comports with every element of the Guidelines.
Employers should expect OSHA to more frequently demand the incorporation of the Guidelines in future settlement agreements. The agency has publically announced that adoption of the Guidelines and the creation of a safety culture is a top priority.
So what actions can employers take now?
- If OSHA has already issued repeat citations to your organization for alleged violations at multiple locations, consider discussing with counsel whether working toward achieving a corporate-wide or regional settlement is a good option for your business. If, as anticipated, OSHA raises fines by about 80% this year (see related story), and your business continues to accumulate citations, those citations could become increasingly more costly in the coming months and could be far more difficult to settle as OSHA will have increased bargaining power once the fines are raised.
- Review the proposed revisions to the Guidelines and submit comments regarding their strengths, weaknesses, and potential impact on your business.
- Review your organization’s safety and health programs and consider taking proactive measures to create a program that includes the elements of the guidelines. Although an initial administrative and financial investment will likely be required, creating a safety culture usually pays dividends -- improving worker safety and morale, decreasing workers’ compensation costs, and decreasing the possibility of receiving OSHA citations.