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PCCA Journal|4

th

Quarter 2010

30

Safety News

T

he U.S. Department of La-

bor’s Occupational Safety and

Health Administration recently

announced that it has conclud-

ed an evaluation of state-run occu-

pational safety and health programs

under its jurisdiction. Enhanced Fed-

eral Annual Monitoring and Evalu-

ation (EFAME) reports provide de-

tailed findings and recommendations

on the operations of state-run OSHA

programs in 25 states and territories.

The enhanced review was initiated

after a 2009 special OSHA report

on Nevada’s program, prompted by

numerous construction-related fatali-

ties in Las Vegas, identified serious

operational deficiencies.

“Our goal is to identify problems

in state-run programs before they re-

sult in serious injuries or fatalities,”

OSHA boss Dr. David Michaels said.

“While we found many positives in

the state programs, we also found

deficiencies including concerns

about identification of hazards,

proper classification of violations,

proposed penalty levels, and failure

to follow up on violations to ensure

that workplace safety and health

problems are corrected.”

The EFAME report and appendi-

ces for each of the 25 states, as well

as each state’s comment and fiscal

year 2009 self-evaluation report,

are available on OSHA’s website.

States will have 30 days to provide a

formal response, including a detailed

corrective action plan for addressing

findings and recommendations.

Each state’s formal response will

be public information and available

online as soon as it is received. The

EFAME review also identified areas

where states have adopted standards

and procedures exceeding federal

OSHA’s requirements, such as injury

and illness prevention programs

in several states; the adoption of

a cranes and derricks rule prior to

OSHA’s in North Carolina, Washing-

ton, and Maryland; and Oregon’s

requirement that employers abate

serious workplace violations during

the contest period, a legal tool under

consideration in Congress but still

lacking in federal OSHA.

OSHA said the review of the Ha-

waii program highlights significant

performance problems resulting

from staffing and funding cutbacks.

OSHA is addressing these problems

directly with the governor’s office

and has offered to provide supple-

mental federal enforcement assis-

tance until the state can address

its problems. If Hawaii is unable to

present a reasonable strategy for

expeditiously improving its worker

safety and health oversight, consid-

eration will be given to the state’s

current authority to operate its own

program independently and could

result in a federal takeover.

“We recognize that some of the

problems we identified could stem

from significant budget constraints

in many of the states and may

also be the result of less intensive

federal oversight in recent years,”

Michaels said. “OSHA, through its

regional offices, intends to provide

assistance in the implementation

of corrective actions and will work

closely with state officials to review

progress. We are confident that by

working together to address identi-

fied problems, we can improve state

operations and provide more con-

sistent protection to all of America’s

workers.”

The 25 states and territories evalu-

ated are Alaska, Arizona, California,

Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa,

Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Min-

nesota, New Jersey, New Mexico,

New York, North Carolina, Oregon,

Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Ten-

nessee, Utah, Vermont, U.S. Virgin

Islands, Virginia, Washington, and

Wyoming. No reports are being is-

sued on the Nevada and Illinois state

plans; a special study was issued

on the Nevada state plan in October

2009, and the Illinois state plan was

not approved until September 2009.

The status of each state’s efforts to

improve its plans will be reflected in

the fiscal year 2010 Federal Annual

Monitoring and Evaluation report

expected in 2011, OSHA said.

When Congress enacted the Oc-

cupational Safety and Health Act of

1970, it created an opportunity for

federal-state partnerships to promote

safety and health. Section 18 of the

law allows states to develop and en-

force occupational safety and health

standards in the context of an OSHA-

approved state plan. Twenty-seven

states and territories have sought

and obtained approval. Twenty-one

states and Puerto Rico have com-

plete programs covering both the

private sector and state and local

governments. Four states and the

U.S. Virgin Islands have programs

limited in coverage to public sector

employees. Currently, state plans

deliver the OSHA program to 40

percent of the nation’s workplaces,

with federal OSHA responsible for

the other 60 percent.

State plan standards and enforce-

ment must be at least as effective as

federal OSHA in providing safe and

healthful employment to workers. In

addition, state plans operate under

authority of state law, not delegated

federal authority. Thus, in order to

operate its own plan, a state must

enact an equivalent of the federal

OSH Act and must use administra-

tive and regulatory procedures to

adopt its own standards, regulations

and operating procedures, all of

which must be updated within six

months of any change in the federal

program.

OSHA Reports on State-Run OSH Programs, Calls for Corrective Actions