Lag in OSHA inspections may have put workers at risk
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With “most” Occupation Safety and Health Administration inspections performed remotely during the pandemic, “workplace hazards may remain unidentified and unabated longer, thereby leaving more employees vulnerable,” the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor stated in its Semiannual Report to Congress issued Thursday.
The report, which includes detail on the OIG’s oversight of all Department of Labor programs in place since the since the start of the pandemic, stated that OSHA “has received an influx of complaints” and “(a)t the same time, OSHA has had to reduce the number of its inspections, particularly on-site inspections, as a way to reduce person-to-person contact.”
OSHA received 15% more complaints in 2020 but performed 50% fewer, or 13,164 fewer, inspections compared with a similar period in 2019, according to the report.
“Therefore, the risk that OSHA may not ensure the level of protection that workers need at various job sites has increased. OSHA’s on-site presence during inspections has historically resulted in timely mitigation efforts for at least a portion of the hazards identified.”
“While OSHA has issued several guidance documents to enhance safety provisions during the pandemic, guidance does not carry the weight of OSHA rules or standards,” the report states. “Since the outbreak of COVID-19 more than a year ago, OSHA has not issued an emergency temporary standard for airborne infectious diseases that could protect employees’ health and safety at worksites.”
OSHA has since sent a draft of an emergency temporary standard to protect workers from COVID-19 to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. That ETS was part of an executive order by President Joe Biden, who called on OSHA to create an emergency standard if necessary to protect workers by March 15.
More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.
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