OR-OSHA Enforcement Activity for Calendar Years 2004-2008
INSPECTIONS
VIOLATIONS & PENALTIES ASSESSED
Safety Health Total
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
4,399
4,823
4,730
4,460
4,288
4,091
4,090
4,163
4,329
680
848
793
821
816
738
900
898
953
5,386
5,671
5,523
5,281
5,104
4,829
4,990
5,061
5,282
Employers % In
Compliance
Covered
166,158
199,891
199,160
210,171
228,067
268,095
370,162
239,951
207,718
24.3
24.8
23.9
23.0
24.9
22.2
26.8
24.9
24.1
No.
4,080
4,757
4,312
4,222
4,181
4,334
4,046
4,163
4,622
$ Penalty
$1,498,274
$1,540,605
$1,522,055
$1,596,322
$1,477,010
$1,386,025
$1,393,915
$1,517,850
$1,669,908
Willful
Repeat
Serious
Year of
Inspection
No.
244
258
203
219
213
231
261
274
224
$ Penalty
$460,450
$396,630
$303,390
$475,130
$383,555
$458,900
$756,550
$661,100
$486,975
No. $ Penalty
4
2
2
0
2
2
0
2
2
$130,000
$45,000
$100,000
$0
$120,000
$140,000
0
$30,000
$50,000
Other
No.
6,464
8,440
7,292
7,177
7,142
6,205
5,657
5,693
5,701
$ Penalty
$175,110
$288,845
$252,785
$251,025
$192,815
$178,165
$228,375
$233,725
$200,845
Citations
Issued
3,933
4,093
4,034
3,893
3,832
3,755
3,653
3,801
4,010
1) Each set of grouped violations was counted as one violation. 2) All penalties associated with group violations were included. 3) Penalties shown are initial penalties assessed and do not re-
flect reducations made after the original citation was issued 4) Data are tallied by open date of inspection. Data will change as updated. 5) Inspection and citation counts do not include orders
to correct done prior to Oct. 1, 2002.
Source: Research and Analysis Section, OR-OSHA
U.S. Labor Department under Bush failed to protect workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — A
report by the U.S. Department of La-
bor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG)
reveals that the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) un-
der the Bush Administration systemat-
ically failed to perform follow-up in-
spections for employers who put
workers in serious danger. That failure
may have led to workers being killed.
“With 5,680 workers dying on the
job each year, this report shows just
how callous the Bush Administration
was when it came to protecting work-
ers,” the AFL-CIO stated.
According to the report, OSHA
failed to, or was deficient in, following
up on 97 percent of the cases in its En-
hanced Enforcement Program, which,
ironically, was designed to step up en-
forcement against serious violators.
The OIG found that at 45 worksites
where OSHA oversight was deficient,
58 workers subsequently were killed by
job hazards.
Last year, OSHA changed the rules
for which firms made the Enhanced
Enforcement Program list, cutting the
number from 719 in fiscal year 2007 to
475 in fiscal year 2008.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
said the findings confirmed what the la-
bor federation has said all along about
Bush’s OSHA: “This is an indictment
of the Bush Administration’s unwill-
ingness to protect and safeguard Amer-
ica’s working men and women.”
Change To Win Health and Safety
Director Eric Frumin agreed, but also
pointed out the Inspector General cited
companies’ failure to protect their own
workers, with or without OSHA en-
forcement. Frumin called on Congress
to give the agency more money, more
inspectors — and more power against
violators.
“The report identifies huge corpora-
tions like WalMart and Waste Manage-
ment, Inc., which should have been
designated” for the EEP. “These com-
panies ... and others must be finally
held accountable for their cold-hearted
disregard of their workers’ safety and
health,” Frumin said.
The labor secretary in the eight-year
Bush Administration was Elaine Chao.
General Sheet Metal earns
safety recognition status
General Sheet Metal was certified
April 2 into the Safety and Health
Achievement Recognition Program
(SHARP) by the Oregon Occupational
Safety and Health Administration.
Acceptance into SHARP is a public
acknowledgment by Oregon-OSHA
that a model safety and health program
exists and that safety is a company
value. Participation in SHARP doesn’t
eliminate regulatory enforcement, al-
though participants do receive a limited
exemption from programmed inspec-
tions.
General Sheet Metal is signatory
with Sheet Metal Workers Local 16.
Depending on workload, the company
employs between 40 and 80 people.
Local 16 President Ric Olander re-
cently went to work there to coordinate
its architectural sheet metal department.
Prior to that, Olander was assistant co-
APRIL 17, 2009
ordinator at the union’s HVAC & Met-
als Institute in Northeast Portland.
General Sheet Metal is a Clacka-
mas-based, 77-year-old minority-
owned company that fabricates and in-
stalls sheet metal ductwork,
architectural metal, and specialty items
for industrial and commercial cus-
tomers in the Pacific Northwest.
“Every employee is committed to
making sure their co-workers make it
home safely to their families at the end
of each day,” said company president
Carol Duncan.
Oregon employers that have been in
business for more than one year are el-
igible to apply for SHARP, regardless
of size or type of business.
Currently, 64 employer locations in
Oregon participate in SHARP, in addi-
tion to 84 facilities that have graduated
from the program.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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