OSHA Violations: What Does ‘Willful’ Really Mean?

According to the OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual, a willful violation of OSHA standards occurs whenever the evidence shows either an intentional violation or “plain indifference” to the requirements of the regulations.

Intentional and Knowing

OSHA will consider that an employer has committed an intentional and knowing violation if the employer:

• Was aware of the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, or the existence of an applicable standard, and was also aware of a condition or practice in violation of those requirements, and did not abate the hazard.
• Was not aware of the requirements of the Act or standards, but was aware of a comparable legal requirement (e.g., state or local law) and was also aware of a condition or practice in violation of that requirement, and did not abate the hazard.

---

Great news! We’ve had our experts pre-write, legally review, and then assemble the exact safety plan materials you need in instantly available, highly affordable PDF packages called Redi-2-Use Libraries. Try it at no cost and see!

---

Plain Indifference

OSHA will consider that an employer has committed a violation with plain indifference to the law whenever:

• Upper management was aware of an OSHA requirement applicable to the company’s business but made little or no effort to communicate the requirement to lower level supervisors and employees.
• Company officials were aware of a continuing compliance problem but made little or no effort to avoid violations (for example, repeat violations for the same or similar condition).
• An employer was not aware of any legal requirement, but was aware that a condition or practice was hazardous to the safety or health of employees and made little or no effort to determine the extent of the problem or to take the corrective action. (Knowledge of a hazard may be gained from such means as insurance company reports, safety committee or other internal reports, the occurrence of illnesses or injuries, media coverage, or, in some cases, complaints of employees or their representatives.)

In particularly “flagrant” situations, says OSHA, willfulness can be found
despite lack of knowledge of either a legal requirement or the existence of    hazard if the circumstances show that the employer would have placed no
importance on such knowledge even if it had possessed it, or had no
concern for the health or safety of employees.

---

Don’t risk injuries, fines, and lawsuits. Let BLR’s Redi-2-Use Libraries develop the compliance plans you need without all the hassle of writing them yourself.Get the details.

---

Additional Factors

According to the Field Manual, “It is not necessary that the violation be committed with a bad purpose or an evil intent to be deemed ‘willful.’  It is sufficient that the violation was deliberate, voluntary or intentional as distinguished from inadvertent, accidental or ordinarily negligent.”

Additional factors that can influence a decision about whether violations are willful include:

• The nature of the employer’s business and the knowledge regarding safety and health matters which could reasonably be expected in the industry
• The precautions taken by the employer to limit the hazardous conditions
• The employer’s awareness of OSHA requirements and of the responsibility to provide safe and healthful working conditions
• Whether similar violations and/or hazardous conditions have been brought to the attention of the employer
• Whether the nature and extent of the violations disclose a purposeful disregard of the employer’s responsibility under law

More Articles on Enforcement and Inspection