Federal and state laws on workplace health and safety currently hold employers accountable for willful OSHA violations that result in the death of an employee. The OSH Act states that:
“Any employer who willfully violates any standard, rule, or order promulgated pursuant to [the OSH Act] and that violation caused death to any employee shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months or by both.”
Most state plan laws are almost identical. The limitations contained in this section have limited its use so that only a few criminal cases have been brought by OSHA in accordance with the OSH Act. Current OSHA reform legislation before the U.S. Congress, if passed, would change the OSH Act’s criminal violation to felony states and to significantly increase the penalties amounts.
State criminal laws of general applicability provide a much more likely basis for criminal indictments of responsible employers, employees, corporate officers, plant managers, and others. In several highly publicized state cases, employers, employees, corporate officers, corporation presidents, plant managers, and others have been indicted, and, in some instances convicted, for...
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