Posted: November 17th, 2022

OSHA assignment VII

OSHA assignment VII
Assuming that a fatality occurred one month before the OSHA inspection in the facility and having reviewed the citations and penalties that were assessed, any of the citations that address violations likely to result in death may be referred to and charges made against either the employer or the company. Having that in mind, when the case is referred to the Department of Justice, U.S, for the criminal proceeding, the citations enlisted below are likely to be cited. All citations classified as willful and are hazardous or likely to lead to fatalities would be cited for having been violated (Moran, 1973). They would include citation 2 and item 1 and 2b where an individual could be charged for the fatality by having defaulted to conduct air sampling and management hence exposing workers to dangerous lead percentage. Secondly, citation 2 and item 2a may be referred to for having assumed offering adequate training to employees concerning protection. Thirdly, charges could be cited from citation 2 and item 3a and 3b for failing to provide hazard communication program to employees in order to warn them of the dangerous substances such as lead, acetone, sulfuric acid, methyl ethyl ketone, et cetera.
Before referring the citations to the criminal proceedings, it must be demonstrated that the organization or the employer willfully violated the OSHA standards and death has resulted from the violations. However, all willful findings do not obviously mean criminal referral. Therefore, OSHA will only present cases that can overcome the higher test of proof. It must also be proven that the employer knew the dangerous outcomes could be experienced but took no responsibility to curb them. The criminal cases demonstrated to be beyond the usual civil cases for OSHA to have a final ruling can be referred to the DOJ for rulings (Act, 1970).
The criminal charges on fatal matters can either be on an organization or an individual. The individuals who may face the charges include the facility manager, head of departments of the exposed zones, operations manager and the employees training facilitator.
The willful violations of the standards placed on the OSH Act that may be fatal are a misdemeanor. The imprisonment sentence of willful violations is not more than six months and a fine of $250,000 maximum for an individual. The fines are due to violations with plain indifference. The government must proof that the violation elements are beyond reasonable doubt and the proof is substantially huger than the normal civil case. These penalties are increased from the normal OSH Act penalties of $10,000 and six months jailing (serious) and $20,000 and one year jailing for repeated violation that have led to death due to the severity of the case. The maximum fine that the company would face is $500,000 (Code, F. F. P & NEC, 1998).
Any employer facing the charges and the fines must proof that the safety programs were available and were adequately communicated to the employees. Secondly, the employer must proof that the safety programs were adequately enforced. Thirdly, the employer should confirm before the court that the fatality arose from the departure from the existing safety precautions. If the court confirms the proof, the charges are likely to be reduced or vacated. Finally, the individual facing the case should defend himself by proofing that they had no opportunity to be aware of the violations. It is only until the employers present their defense documents to proof training, enforcements and communications adequately is their defense valid (Moran, 1973).
The employer may request for the results of the court through the OSHRC (Act, 1970). OSHRC is a self-reliant agency that oversees and reviews the charges against employers. These charges can be retrieved from the OSHRC website. Employers can therefore obtain the results of their entire court proceeding for further appeals if necessary.

References
Act, W. S. (1970). Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Public Law, 91, 596.
Code, F. F. P., & NEC, O. (1998). Codes and Standards.
Moran, R. D. (1973). Parties to Proceedings in the Court of Appeals under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. BC Indus. & Com. L. Rev., 15, 1089.

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