Assume that a fatality occurred at your facility one month prior to the OSHA inspection. Review the citations and penalties that were assessed to your facility, and respond to the following questions:
1: Citations that could be referred to the U.S. Department of justice
According to section 17e of the Health and Safety Act 1970 (Osha.gov, 2017) it can be stated that an employer can be held liable if he fails to comply with the provisions as stated in the section 6 of the aforementioned act. It can be mentioned that the provision as stated in section 17e of the act applies in a situation when the employer due to failure of complying with the regulations as stated in the act causes the death of an employee.
2: Conditions would have to be met before the citations could be referred for criminal proceedings.
- At least one OSHA standard violation
- The violation of the OSHA standard was caused by the employer
- The violation of the OSHA standard as the direct cause of death of the Employee
- Violation of the OSHA standard by the employer is required to be committed willfully
3: Individuals working at the facility who could face criminal charges under the Act
According to section 17 of the aforementioned act, It can be said that employer can face criminal charges if is found to have violated the regulations as stated in section five of the aforementioned act. Under subsection 17e, t he employer could receive a citation for willful violation of a regulation as stated in section six of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Osha.gov, 2017).
4: The maximum prison sentence and fines that any individual could face
According to section 17e of the Occupational Health and Safety Act an employer can face a maximum prison sentence of six months and will be responsible to pay a fine not amounting to more than ten thousand dollars. It can be said that such penal provisions can be applied on an employer only if it is established that he had violated the regulation as stated in the section 6 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970 (Osha.gov, 2017).
5: Maximum fine that the company would face
It can be said that the maximum penalty for willful and serious violation of the health and safety regulations as stated in section five of the Occupational Health and Safety Act is seven thousand dollars. However, in case of repeated occurrence of such incidents the employer of the company will be liable to pay a maximum penalty of seventy thousand dollars.
6: Defense against criminal charges and involvement of Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
If it is established that the violation of the Health and Safety Standard was not done by the employer, the criminal charges would not apply on the company. It can also be said that the best ground of defense in this case would be to establish that the death of the employee did not occur due to the violation of the aforementioned Health and safety standard. It can be stated that the initially the case would be referred to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The OHRC is an independent administrative federal agency which conducts all the functions of an administrative court (Oshrc.gov, 2017).
References
Osha.gov. (2017). OSH Act of 1970 | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. [online] Available at: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/toc [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].
Oshrc.gov. (2017). Home Page | OSHRC. [online] Available at: https://www.oshrc.gov/ [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].
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