New OSHA Leadership: Employers Need to be on Alert

Doug Parker the new head of OSHA is the latest signal of big changes that are in store for many business leaders and their companies.
Before this position, Doug Parker has served as the chief of California’s Division Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA). Cal-OSHA is notorious for being more stringent across the board on their requirements than federal OSHA.

A More Aggressive and Robust OSHA

The Biden administration has pledged to make significant changes to the American workplace. Parker will be responsible for implementing many of those changes. It is reasonable to think that workplace safety enforcement will be more aggressive and robust under OSHA lead by Parker. 

OSHA Raises Penalties for 2022

Under the 2022 rule, the new maximum OSHA civil penalties will be:

The new OSHA penalty amounts are applicable to OSHA citations issued after January 15, 2022, for violations occurring after July 15, 2021. In terms of a percentage increase (6.2%), 2021 to 2022 is the largest increase in base penalty amounts since the yearly increases started.

Be Proactive About Workplace Safety

Employers are advised to be proactive in their approach to workplace safety.  Sometimes some companies take a reactive approach with hazards rather than being proactive and eliminating them up front. Addressing and eliminating hazards before work begins should be a main goal of a company's safety program.

Key tasks that every employer should complete are:

• Identifying and eliminating workplace safety hazards.

• Ensuring that all necessary site-specific written plans and assessments are documented correctly and completed thoroughly.

• Conduct and document required safety training. are completed in the designated time frames.

If you need assistance with OSHA compliance, ACS can help. Contact us for more information.