Complete Story
03/08/2022
OSHA Targets Unlikely Suspects in 2022
Source: Fisher Phillips, March 8, 2022
Just because you aren’t a large employer in the construction or manufacturing field, 2022 may be shaping up as the year that you get visited by a federal workplace safety inspector. That’s according to the nation’s first OSHA Inspections Tracker map, just unveiled by the Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Management team at Fisher Phillips and created by our Knowledge Management and Technology teams, allowing employers to examine the up-to-the-minute state of workplace safety inspections in a detailed manner. By clicking here and maneuvering around the map and accompanying data lists, you can determine the likelihood of your business being visited by OSHA inspectors based on your location, industry, and company size. It’s just the latest innovative offering from the firm that recently won the Law Firm of the Year Award at the 2021 American Legal Technology Awards. What are the five biggest takeaways for employers upon examining the FP OSHA Inspections Tracker?
1. State OSHA Plans are Being Aggressive Early in 2022
The first thing your eye may track when looking at the heat map is that the usual suspect stands out as the state with the most total OSHA inspections in 2022. Given its size and the prevalence of manufacturing and construction operations, it’s no surprise to see California leading the pack with over 1,000 inspections already launched in 2022. But when you adjust the map for total number of inspections per employee count, the top five states become Washington, Michigan, Alaska, Hawaii, and Oregon – all five of which are State OSHA Plan states.
In fact, when looking solely at the raw number of inspections carried out, only five of the top 10 states so far this year are State OSHA plan states. But when you factor in the relative size of each state’s employee population to determine the actual likelihood of a workplace being targeted for an inspection, you’ll see that nine out of the top 10 states are all State Plan states (the list also includes Puerto Rico, Utah, Kentucky, and Nevada). Employers in those areas need to be especially on guard regarding workplace safety practices and OSHA inspection response procedures in 2022.
2. Mid-size and Larger Employers Face a Proportionately Much Greater Chance of an OSHA Inspection
While the smallest employers (those with under 10 employees) are subjected to the most OSHA inspections (44% of all visits, amounting to 4,241 inspections), that is not entirely surprising considering that small employers are by far the most common type of employer in the United States (roughly 87% of all employers fall into that category). What is surprising, however, is what the FP OSHA Inspections Tracker reflects with regard to the rate of inspections for mid-size and large employers. OSHA inspectors multiplied their efforts against employers with 10 to 49 employees (which make up roughly 10% of all employers but face 27% of all inspections: a number 177% greater than expected), and even more so against employers with 50 to 499 employees (which make up 2.5% of all employers but face a whopping 23.2% of all inspections: 828% greater than expected). But the largest employers? Despite amounting to only 0.1% of all employers in the U.S., they faced 5.6% of all OSHA inspections (538 in total), an astounding 5,500% increase over expectations.
The lesson: while the data confirms OSHA inspectors can and will target employers of any size, their efforts tend to be disproportionately directed at medium and large employers. This may be because OSHA by law can issue higher penalties and enforce various regulations to which only larger employers are generally subjected, including recordkeeping.
The good news is American Safety & Health Management Consultants, Inc. (ASH) is here to help members free of charge!
ASH works in partnership with Association members to provide the best services available. This includes providing complimentary on-site safety evaluations for members monthly, along with plant safety inspections. They help identify OSHA violations that could potentially cost hefty fines and assist members in the development, implementation and management of employee safety training programs.
ASH has the capabilities to provide Total Safety Management, from working on a single problem area to evaluating, developing and administering an entire comprehensive safety and health program.
As OSHA and EPA continue their efforts to enforce Federal Safety and Environmental Regulations, some of the largest penalties in history are being levied. Safety, Health, and Environmental compliance are becoming increasingly complicated, requiring close monitoring and attention as new standards are being written and implemented. ASH is equipped to keep client companies up to date and in compliance with these developing regulations.
Sign up via the link below for further information on how they can be an integral part of your company’s safe and healthy work environment.
