Unit 6 Legal aspects of safety

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Unit 6 Legal aspects of safety

Due to failure to reach an informal settlement on the various citations and penalties with the area director, there is need to seek adjustment in the citations and penalties through contest. There was need to file a notice to contest because the cost of the abatement of the violations cited and penalties on the factory is enormous and may result in other legal implications. There is need to convince the administrative law judge assigned to the case that the factory needs adjustment on various citations and penalties as described below.

The first citation and penalty for presentation during contest will be Citation 1 item 1b which cites the violation of failure to implement engineering controls to reduce exposures to 200ug/m3 where there was employee exposure to lead levels above permissible limit for 30 days or less per year. The reasoning behind this contested citation is that OSHA failed to acknowledge that the company has engineering controls in place and that the ventilation hoods only need modification for better functioning. A downgrade in the penalty would be a relief to the factory in terms of cost incurred in settling penalties. The documents I would bring to the hearing include photographs of existing engineering controls and written material approved by the management board indicating the procurement and testing of supplied respirators with photographs of the same. In addition to these, I will provide a written and signed detailed plan of abatement outlining the schedule for implementation of engineering controls including modification of ventilation hoods to improve the existing ventilation system in the working area. The written plan will include a timeline for each of the measures within the dates prescribed by the citation.

The second citation and penalty for presentation at the contest will be Citation 1 item 2, which cites the violation of lack of a written respiratory protection program including the provisions in 1910. The reasoning behind this contested citation is that the proposed penalty for this violation is too high for the citation, which the factory does not consider a huge hazard for the factory workers as long as the respiratory protection program is enforced. The documents I will bring to the hearing include written information to show the strategies laid down by the factory to ensure respiratory protection among employees within the dates prescribed by the citation. I will present an approved copy of a written respiratory protection program from the office of the health and safety director in the factory with the help of certified consultants in industrial safety

The third citation for presentation before the administrative law judge is Citation 2 Item 1, which cites the failure to carry out initial determination of the possible exposure of any employee to lead at or above the action level through air sampling. The reasoning behind this contested citation is its classification as willful yet the amount of lead exposure to employees is minimal since employees only work in areas of lead exposure for a maximum of two hours a day per employee. I would like to achieve a reclassification to serious so that there is penalty reduction for this citation. The documents I will bring to the hearing include written material indicating the steps taken by the factory to ensure that there is determination of the possibility of exposure of lead beyond permissible levels in all working areas. In addition to this, I will present a copy of the notice and an internal memo to a halt of all factory operations in areas where there is handling of lead since the day after the reception of the citation and penalties notification letter. I will also produce documents indicating that the dates for air sampling in these areas within the dates for abatement prescribed by the citation.

The fourth citation and penalty I will present for hearing during the contest is Citation 2 Item 3a, which cites the failure implement and/or maintain at the workplace a written hazard communication program with a description of how the criteria specified in 29 CFR 1910. 1200(f), (g) and (h) will be met, classified as a willful violation. The reasoning behind this contested citation is that the penalty for this citation is high and I would like a reclassification to serious so that there is a penalty reduction. The documents I will present during the hearing will include evidence from the office of the health and safety director of the factory to indicate that the development of a written hazard communication program was underway during the inspection of the factory by the department of Labor and was awaiting implementation. I will provide written material indicating the plans for the written hazard communication program and the dates of installation of the program and orientation of factory employees set out and approved by the factory management within the dates prescribed by the citation.

. The individuals to take part in the hearing include health and safety director of the factory, and a representative of the management board of the factory and employees who are willing to participate in the hearing. A technical expert to confirm the plan for corrections made with regard to the citation and a representative from the safety committee to confirm the existence of engineering controls in the factory . A member from the safety committee of the factory will be present to confirm that the amount of lead exposure to employees per day.

The case before the administrative law judge differs from the informal conference in that, during the informal conference, individuals from the factory including the director for health and safety, the member of the management board and the technical expert failed to get audience. During this hearing, these individuals will get a chance to speak and support the case. Another difference is that during the informal conference, employees did not get a chance to participate, while during the hearing, employees get to participate. During the informal conference, there was no presentation of some of the evidence presented to the administrative law judge including photographs of the existing engineering controls. The information I will seek from OSHA as part of discovery includes a request for production of documents detailing the inspection procedure and report, and request for entry upon land to enable access to areas of alleged violations.

References

Feeley, J. (2011). Where Man Meets Machine: Legal Aspects of Safety. Control Design and Industrial Networking.

Maurer, R. (2013). How to Contest and Reduce OSHA Fines. Society for Human Resource Management, Risk Management.