DOL Inspector General Finds OSHA Enhanced Enforcement Program Woefully Lacking

The U.S. Department of Labor's Inspector General conducted an audit of OSHA's Enhanced Enhancement Program and found that it failed to follow proper investigative procedures in 97 percent of cases. The special enforcement program, highly touted by the Bush Administration, was initiated in 2003 to target the work sites of high-risk employers for increased enforcement. The audit found that many employers identified as high risk that should have been targeted for enforcement were never inspected. The audit concluded that if the program had operated as it should have, " it may have deterred or reduced workplace risks at the sites of 45 employers where 58 fatalities later occurred" according to an Associated Press report.

The National COSH and its allies in the Protecting Workers Alliance have called for more aggressive and effective enforcement for high risk employers as part of our national policy agenda "Protecting Workers on the Job: Seven Priorities for Federal action in 2009."

Read the AP story here

And the Washington Post story here