Judge's verdict shows support of OSHA's power- Victory for Workers

It all started on September 3, 1998, when OSHA charged Eric K. Ho, a contractor, with 28 willful violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and its asbestos standards, and proposed civil penalties totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars. Ho's violations included assigning workers to remove fireproofing at a building in Houston, Texas, without telling them that the fireproofing contained asbestos, without training them to remove it safely, and without providing them with protective clothing and respirators(osha.gov).

After violating asbestos requirements, a Texas city inspector ordered Ho to stop work. Ho then ordered his workers to work at night, with the building locked, so he would not be discovered. The effort to avoid detection failed when a gas explosion seriously injured three workers. The explosion was caused by Ho's order to open a valve, even though he did not know what the valve controlled. Following the incident, OSHA cited Ho for 22 separate violations- 11 for not training each worker and 11 for not providing a respirator for each worker.

Following OSHA's citations, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission under President Bush overturned the majority of the citations. The Commission stated that Ho could only be cited once for not training workers and once for not providing respirators. This reduced Ho's fines to only 2, no longer 22. OSHA went onto appeal the Commission's decision. OSHA stated that it would appeal the ruling that could possibly "block its ability to issue egregious citations against the worst violators of workplace safety rules." The National Association of Home Builders sued, claiming OSHA didn’t have the authority to say that employers could be cited for each worker left unprotected.

Just late last week,the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said OSHA has such authority and ruled for the agency in the case, National Association of Home Builders v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This case is another step in the right direction. The verdict ensures that worker rights will continue to be protected.

Sources:
www.osha.gov
Parks, James. "Court Upholds OSHA’s Power to Protect Workers." AFL-CIO Now Blog. 19 Apr. 2010. Web.