Resources for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Critics say OSHA fines too lax

www.stltoday.com

Workplace-safety advocates say low fines from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and rare jail terms help explain why 16 Americans are killed on the job on an average day — and why the considerable progress in lowering the death rate has ground to a halt this decade.

New federal data show that Missouri leads the nation in the average penalty assessed employers for fatal workplace accidents. But the numbers can be misleading, and they say less about Missouri than about the scant punishment doled out nationally to employers who violate safety laws.

OSHA conducted 25 investigations of fatal workplace accidents in Missouri during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, assessing $2.7 million in fines, according to figures from the Department of Labor. But almost the entire sum — $2.4 million — was levied in a single case involving a Pevely, Mo., industrial coating firm for twin fatalities in Kansas City.

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