How to be Proactive & Protect your Company from OSHA

It's true.

One of the last acts of the 2015 Congress was to both raise the fines which can be levied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (a.k.a. OSHA), and index them to inflation . . . forever.

But paying a hefty fine to the government could be the least of your worries, according to Travis W. Vance, a partner in the Fisher Phillips law firm, who is based out of their Charlotte, North Carolina office.

"OSHA makes their money when employers 'fail to abate' or do not correct something they were ordered to beyond the abatement date," said Mr Vance today in his 2019 OSHA webinar presentation sponsored by Vertical Alliance Group Inc.

The fine for failure to abate is now $13,260 . . . per day.

But why should a trucking company worry about OSHA fines? Isn't trucking regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the United States Department of Transportation?

While drivers on highways or in interstate commerce for the most part are regulated under the DOT, there are situations where OSHA has 'jurisdiction' or regulatory control. They could include loading/unloading, yard activities, and non- DOT drug testing . . .

The bottom line: no matter what industry or size of business, if an employee is injured or killed, there are no exceptions in reporting this to OSHA. Even an employer with as few as two employees would be required to make a timely report to OSHA, or face possible OSHA sanctions.

To learn more, visit the Vertical Alliance Group website. And be sure to sign up for their webinars, provided at no cost to participants.