Even as the Labor Department awaits confirmation of a new secretary, officials say enforcement actions are moving forward against companies accused of violating workplace safety rules.þþThere is just one issue: The public isn’t likely to know much about them.þþIn a sharp break with the past, the department has stopped publicizing fines against companies. As of Monday, seven weeks after the inauguration of President Trump, the department had yet to post a single news release about an enforcement fine.þþBy contrast, the Obama administration saw the announcements — essentially publicly shaming companies — as a major tool in its workplace safety enforcement. It issued an average of about 460 news releases annually about fines and other enforcement actions, said Eric Conn, a lawyer in Washington who tracks such cases.þþ“The reason you do news releases is to influence other employers” to clean up their acts, said David Michaels, who was an administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency within the Labor Department that oversees workplace safety, during much of the Obama administration.þþAs Mr. Trump vows to roll back regulations across the federal government, the early experience in the Labor Department shows that there are many ways to signal the administration’s new direction. Concern among labor unions and advocates of workplace safety is so high that some unions raced to court last month to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to undo a new rule that prevents companies from retaliating against employees who report workplace hazards.þþJillian Rogers, a spokeswoman for the Labor Department, declined to comment when asked why OSHA had not issued any such releases. But she said that the agency’s enforcement efforts were unchanged and that such efforts were “reflected across various media channels,” like newsletters and social media.þþ“The Department of Labor is continuing to operate business as usual, including enforcement operations,” Ms. Rogers said.þþIn addition to the rule on worker retaliation, several other OSHA regulations or standards, on issues like record-keeping practices and use of a mineral linked to a deadly lung disease, face delay or elimination.þþLast week, the Senate passed a measure to repeal an Obama-era rule that required companies seeking significant federal contracts to disclose violations of labor standards, like safety and fair-pay rules, or instances when they were accused of such violations. The so-called blacklisting rule was intended to prevent companies that violated workplace regulations from getting federal money.þþAlan Chvotkin, executive vice president for the Professional Services Council, a trade association that represents federal contractors, hailed the measure, which Mr. Trump may now sign into law. He said the rule was onerous and unfair, because companies had to report unproved accusations.þþ“The regulatory scheme was overly burdensome,” Mr. Chvotkin said. “We applaud the change.”þþAs an agency, OSHA has long struggled to have an impact. Its rule-making procedures are arduous, and changes can take years or even decades to enact.þþLast year, to help the agency flex its muscles, Congress passed a law doubling the fines companies faced for safety violations. The agency also took aim at certain industries it considered repeat offenders.þþAmong other things, it levied fines last year as high as $317,000 against several poultry producers like Tyson Foods, Koch Foods and Birdsboro Kosher Farms. It also assessed a $2.5 million fine against Ajin USA, a company in Alabama that supplies auto parts for South Korean carmakers like Kia and Hyundai, after a 20-year-old woman was killed when a factory robot malfunctioned.þþStill, the Trump administration and lawmakers seem to be making good on commitments to roll back regulations on businesses, and OSHA appears to be a prime target.þþAs Mr. Trump vows to roll back regulations across the federal government, the early experience in the Labor Department shows that there are many ways to signal the administration’s new direction. Concern among labor unions and advocates of workplace safety is so high that some unions raced to court last month to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to undo a new rule that prevents companies from retaliating against employees who report workplace hazards.þþJillian Rogers, a spokeswoman for the Labor Department, declined to comment when asked why OSHA had not issued any such releases. But she said that the agency’s enforcement efforts were unchanged and that such efforts were “reflected across various media channels,” like newsletters and social media.þþ“The Department of Labor is continuing to operate business as usual, including enforcement operations,” Ms. Rogers said.þþIn addition to the rule on worker retaliation, several other OSHA regulations or standards, on issues like record-keeping practices and use of a mineral linked to a deadly lung disease, face delay or elimination.þþLast week, the Senate passed a measure to repeal an Obama-era rule that required companies seeking significant federal contracts to disclose violations of labor standards, like safety and fair-pay rules, or instances when they were accused of such violations. The so-called blacklisting rule was intended to prevent companies that violated workplace regulations from getting federal money.þþAlan Chvotkin, executive vice president for the Professional Services Council, a trade association that represents federal contractors, hailed the measure, which Mr. Trump may now sign into law. He said the rule was onerous and unfair, because companies had to report unproved accusations.þþ“The regulatory scheme was overly burdensome,” Mr. Chvotkin said. “We applaud the change.”þþAs an agency, OSHA has long struggled to have an impact. Its rule-making procedures are arduous, and changes can take years or even decades to enact.þþLast year, to help the agency flex its muscles, Congress passed a law doubling the fines companies faced for safety violations. The agency also took aim at certain industries it considered repeat offenders.þþAmong other things, it levied fines last year as high as $317,000 against several poultry producers like Tyson Foods, Koch Foods and Birdsboro Kosher Farms. It also assessed a $2.5 million fine against Ajin USA, a company in Alabama that supplies auto parts for South Korean carmakers like Kia and Hyundai, after a 20-year-old woman was killed when a factory robot malfunctioned.þþStill, the Trump administration and lawmakers seem to be making good on commitments to roll back regulations on businesses, and OSHA appears to be a prime target.
Source: NY Times
