OSHA turned 40 this year. For the latest on what’s happening at the agency and how OSHA initiatives are affecting U.S. business, BLR turned to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor Jordan Barab and Joe Trauger, vice president of human resources policy for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
At 40, OSHA may be middle-aged, but the agency shows no signs of slowing down.
Jordan Barab, second in command at OSHA, cites the agency’s overall focus on enforcement, calling enforcement a major tool in the agency’s arsenal. "We’re still looking at a far-too-high number of fatalities and illnesses and injuries that could have been prevented by following simple OSHA standards," he says. "We need to crack down on these with every tool we have."
The agency, Barab says, has no intention of backing down from the sizable enforcement actions it has pursued since the transition from the Bush White House to the Obama administration. He adds that OSHA will continue to emphasize voluntary compliance, outreach, and consultation, assisting employers that wish to follow the law.
But Joe Trauger of NAM disagrees. "I believe many in the business community view OSHA’s posture as adversarial and overly aggressive." He contrasts the current climate with that of 20 years ago, during the Clinton administration. At that time OSHA was positive and productive, he says, working with business to ensure compliance.
"In my opinion," states Trauger, "that’s where the notion of helping business comply really took root and certainly continued up to the current state we’re in. Today, he sees OSHA involved in a game of "gotcha," issuing citations with no chance at remediation.
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OSHA and the Economy
Another area of contention between the business community and OSHA is the effect of OSHA initiatives on the economy. According to Barab there is a "tremendous amount of misunderstanding out there about what we do and its effect on the economy.… We consider ourselves a tool in leveling the playing field so that those who care aren’t put at an economic disadvantage."
He goes on to say, "There are those who claim that regulation and enforcement are killing jobs, but it’s really the opposite. Studies of our regulations show that they often produce more benefits and cost less than predicted because businesses are able to innovate and find cheaper ways to address hazards. There’s no evidence that regulations are doing anything but what they were supposed to be doing and helping companies."
Once again, Trauger disagrees. NAM has been vocal in its assertion that regulation is strangling job growth in a country that desperately needs jobs. In a post on NAM’s blog, ShopFloor.org, the organization criticized the claim by Dr. Michaels that some regulation can spur job creation because required new equipment and devices must be innovated and built.
"That would be a good thing if true," according to the blog post. "Think how easy it would be for regulators to rev up the economy. Just place more burdens on businesses and see the economy grow as they spend money to comply with them. That, however, is simply not the way the world works. Dr. Michaels’ argument is nonsense on stilts."
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i2p2
When asked about OSHA priorities in the coming months, Barab mentions progress toward an injury and illness prevention program (i2p2) standard. The agency defines it as a set of "universal interventions that can substantially reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and alleviate the associated financial burdens on U.S. workplaces."
The next stage of the process is a small business review period, followed by publication of a proposal. Similar standards are now on the books in more than a dozen state-plan states.
Trauger weighs in on i2p2, saying, "My view, and I believe the Association’s view, is that i2p2 is concerning. We don’t have much in the way of details yet, but in terms of specifics, many view implementation of it as the last regulation OSHA would ever have to issue."
His reference is to the concern that the agency would be able to use an i2p2 standard as a kind of catchall, which Barab and others at OSHA contest.
Anticipating concerns about how an i2p2 standard would be enforced, OSHA will, for the first time, release details about enforcement at the same time it releases an early draft of the proposed regulation and its economic impact. Typically, enforcement guidelines are published several months after a standard is issued.
Tomorrow, we’ll present the views of Peg Seminario, the safety and health director at the AFL-CIO, concerning OSHA’s impact on the economy, its regulatory agenda, and agency enforcement initiatives.