OSHA’s CCP extended to more employers
A lot of employers have a new opportunity to reduce their likelihood of a federal safety inspection, under a program designed to promote a partnership between employers and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Washington, DC. In some situations, the chance of being inspected by OSHA can be reduced 90%.
OSHA’s Cooperative Compliance Program (CCP) is being expanded as part of its new common sense approach to reducing injuries in the workplace, says Charles N. Jeffress, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. Employers that accept OSHA’s offer to join the CCP and commit to the program criteria can reduce their chances of a safety and health inspection from 100% to 30%. For small employers that request special compliance assistance, the chance of being inspected can plummet to only 10%.
CCP is a partnership between the employer and OSHA, Jeffress says. Rather than an adversarial relationship, the employer and OSHA work together to improve safety in the workplace and reduce the "gotcha" aspect of inspections. Since the ultimate goal of OSHA is to improve safety, not to issue fines, a cooperative relationship can help both parties, he explains. Participants will receive detailed guidance from OSHA on how to improve safety in their own workplaces.
"We want to work with employers and help them do the right thing," Jeffress says. "This program offers employers a choice partnership or traditional enforcement. It also enables us to focus our agency’s resources where we can do the most good."
With CCP, OSHA inspectors work from three levels of scheduled inspections. Employers not participating in CCP remain on the primary inspection list and are most likely to be inspected. CCP participants are placed on the secondary list, and small employers receiving special assistance are placed on the tertiary list. Inspectors work from the top down when selecting companies to visit, so it is unlikely that CCP participants will be chosen often.
The CCP program has been in place in nine states already, but OSHA is now expanding it nationwide. The program is not intended to affect all employers in the country, instead singling out employers with high injury and illness rates and small employers that might need special assistance in complying with OSHA rules. Jeffress says CCP will help OSHA meet its goal of reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace by 20% over the next five years.
Though there is great opportunity for employers intimidated by OSHA inspections, the CCP initiative also includes a downside for employers with high injury rates. The very worst offenders, according to the agency’s assessment of data, will be inspected in a big way. OSHA first began the program by collecting information from about 80,000 employers in targeted industries where a large number of injuries and illnesses occur. All of the companies had at least 60 employees in manufacturing and other standard industrial classifications subject to high rates of injuries and OSHA inspections.
Using that data, OSHA will identify the 500 companies that have either the highest injury and illness rates or a high injury and illness rate coupled with a significant history of OSHA citations. Those employers considered the most problematic will receive what Jeffress calls "comprehensive safety and health inspections." In other words, you better hope you’re not one of those 500 companies.
For just about everyone else, the news is good. Another 14,500 employers with lost workday injury rates of 7.0 or higher, which is about double the national average of 3.6, will be invited to participate in the CCP. They are not required to participate, but if they don’t, they remain on the primary inspection list. And at that point, OSHA has noted their high rates of injury and illness.
In addition, OSHA is encouraging any employer with 100 or less workers to join CCP and seek free help from their state OSHA Consultation Program to set up effective safety and health programs. These employers typically have about a 30% chance of being inspected, but participation in the CCP will reduce that to 10%, he explains. Employers in this size category soon will receive invitations to join CCP, and they have until Jan. 30, 1998, to reply.
Jeffress notes that CCP participants are not exempt from inspections or citations, but their experience will be considerably less painful than they might have expected before.
"Inspections for participants will likely be shorter with lower penalties, provided the employer has worked diligently to identify and correct hazards and to implement his or her safety program," he says. "Those who successfully fulfill the requirements of the program should reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, leading to lower workers’ compensation costs and reduced insurance costs."
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