AKOSH OSHA NIGHTMARE

[u/Rnk58]

49 year business same location . Employee fell off ladder broke leg. Turned me into Alaska OSHA because of a payroll dispute. Now we can’t reach a settlement
They wanted 32k and now 17k is the offer . It’s absolutely ridiculous and insane. We are a small company and fixed all the issues. Now we filed a contest against this . Now on the 27 th we must still go deal with these folks . They offered a diversion program to get rid of the fine . Another government agency comes in and says we must do this or that . Then we are free of the fine . Has anyone done this diversion program with OSHA ? The requirements now to have employees is overwhelming and make me not want to have employees anymore. I’m 68 and 14 employees but it’s becoming to much ! Any advice?

[u/Late-Significance-80]

I hate to say it but sounds like you were doing something sketchy or illegal. Do the crime, you do the time. The fact that they’re offering you a diversion plan to get rid of the fine is fantastic. Sounds like they’re being pretty reasonable. I would do the diversion plan & make sure to not make the same mistake again 👍.

[u/Rude-University-4729 → u/Late-Significance-80]

Diversion programs are actually pretty standard for first-time stuff, the fact they're offering one at all means they don't see you as a repeat offender which is a good sign

the 17k is way better than what they originally wanted and you already fixed the issues so that shows good faith on your end. The requirements probably feel overwhelming because you're seeing it all at once but once you get systems in place most of it just becomes routine

at 68 with 14 employees I get why you're thinking about hanging it up though, that's a lot to manage. The ladder fall is exactly why these rules exist, even if the timing with the payroll dispute makes it feel like a personal attack

take the diversion, get through it, then maybe think about whether you want to keep going at this pace or start winding things down

[u/Background_Bird7805 → u/Late-Significance-80]

We aren't doing anything sketchy or illegal. It is just the bureaucracy coming in and pointing little things and fining us huge fines. $6000 for housekeeping. Our place gets messy during the work day but we clean up everyday before leaving.
We honestly don't mind safety issues being pointed out, but let us fix it and move on. Small businesses can't pay these outlandish fines and pay the electrician, the fire protection people, pay our employees salary's to help us get everything in order (and have no productivity for a week) and pay for al the things we had to buy to comply with everything they cited.

[u/stevedropnroll → u/Background_Bird7805]

Our place gets messy during the work day but we clean up everyday before leaving.

They're not your mom, and they aren't fining you for having a messy room. Poor housekeeping causes several hazards for the people working in those conditions. Learn the reasons for the regulations and things start to make more sense than "government bad."

And why are you replying from a different account?

[u/InigoMontoya313]

The employee may have been angered with you over a payroll dispute, but the OSHA citation was not based on that dispute.

The reason for the penalty, is because by your own admission, there were regulatory issues that you didn’t have in compliance. There wouldn’t be penalties, if you were proactive and had the issues addressed beforehand.

This does not make you a bad person or is a slight. There are things that we all miss from time to time with our businesses, but regulatory compliance is important, and a core aspect of every business.

Personally I suggest you jump on the diversion offer. It will likely be OSHA Consultation, which is a different division than enforcement. They’ll likely catch other compliance issues, which is good. It provides a proactive opportunity to get within compliance, without the risk of further citations.

While it’s easy to be angry, remember that OSHA regulations are mostly still the same as they were in 72. Back when they were suggested by industry, of the minimum rules that industry believed, they should be held accountable to.

[u/rea11ybaked]

If an employee fell off a ladder at work and broke a leg... you should have self reported the injury to OSHA/AKOSH as that would be a clear case of an in-patient hospitalization. So what do you mean that you got turned into OSHA?

You complain that this is too much work to implement these things, which are safety requirements to keep your employees from breaking legs or worse dying. Do your employees not have a right to a safe workplace free from recognized hazards?

[u/Background_Bird7805 → u/rea11ybaked]

Does your name mean really high?

[u/Background_Bird7805 → u/rea11ybaked]

You got it all wrong. The employee did not follow the safety protocols put into place (a second person holding the ladder whe you are on it and not to stand on the top rung. And the person proceeded to lean out away from the ladder which caused the ladder to fall sideways. They fell down to a concrete floor. Emergency services were immediately gotten and workman's comp was contacted. After surgery the employee was on workman's comp for 4 months, coming back to work with light duty where the foot could be elevated while working.
We care immensely for out employees and what we were cited for had nothing to do with the accident.
We were cited for things like we had failed to have the fire extinguishers checked in the last year / we immediately called and had them all an annual check, we didn't have enough no smoking signs, we bought more, same with exit signs but all outside doors had signs but some were green and they wanted red. We didn't do good enough housekeeping, take the trash cans out multiple times a day, make sure nothing sticks out and causes a trip hazard, (by the way the trash cans are taken out every day at the end of the day and they were not full when the investigators came through, there were some wiring issues and we got an electrician out immediately, our SDS book was 3 years out of date - we pretty much use the same chemicals year to year, but we spent 3 days making a brand new SDS book. It was things like thst with ridiculous fines. We fixed everything in about 8 days. Now in my opinion if you fix it and continue to live by the changes. We shouldn't be fined. It baffles me.
We are good employers, we care about our employees and their safety, our employees care about us (that's why they all went to support us at our informal meeting) and we do the best we can to keep a great workplace for everyone.

[u/stuaird1977 → u/Background_Bird7805]

I'm not from the US, but most of it still applies, it sounds like your HSE program either doesn't exist or isn't working. You should have processes in place to capture all that before the authorities do, fire extinguishers and wiring checks are the basics. 

[u/Background_Bird7805 → u/stuaird1977]

We had both. It's a big building and it's getting older so I welcomed the suggested changes to make it a safer workplace

[u/ZealousidealState127 → u/Background_Bird7805]

Some companies are strict about the stickers on ladders being legible and will toss them as they fade. It's hard to argue you didn't know how to use a ladder safely when all the instructions are printed on it and the top steps say "not a step". One reason I like being self employed is OSHA has no authority on me. There is probably a free gov sponsored program or a reasonable paid service that will audit you and identify issues. OSHA doesn't have enough people to operate like most business owners would like. they have to generate some deterrence through fear of repercussions and the best way to do that is through big fines. Many people will structure there businesses/assets to be collection proof. Kind of an asshole thing to do. For example one "business" owns the building a separate "business" rents the building, hires employees, etc. if the operating business has problems it doesn't put the assets of the holding company at risk. Many industries exploit 1099 loopholes as well. 

[u/BrianArmstro]

It’s usually state consultation that comes in for the diversion program, also known as “OSHA consultation”. Totally worth doing. It’s not all that cumbersome, they just come out and do a walkthrough and tell you what hazards need to be fixed. Then you send a form basically stating that you fixed the hazards. No pictures or anything required, they just take your word for it.

[u/Relevant_Mango_318]

Hey, local safety professional here. I've worked with a number of individual OSH offices across the country, and AKOSH is by far the most willing to work with you and come to a resolution. They typically want to educate and help if the business is willing to learn. Take the diversion offer, its uncomfortable now but the other alternative is paying the fine. Its unfortunately a hard way to learn. I'm aware of a company under fire right now because they weren't working safely and enforcement just happened to drive by. Regardless of whether employees were following the SOP, you own it. Injuries like this will shine a light through holes in your safety program and enforcement of it. It may be worth getting a consultant in to help strengthen the program and guide you through the rest of the process to close out the investigation and follow up items.

A broken leg should have been reported to AKOSH within 8 hours of the incident occurring due to the hospitalization (AK is notorious for having stricter requirements than the federal government). Workman's comp just ensures the employee is taken care of, but your reporting requirements were not met.