The threat of criminal prosecution for company and plant management is
a factor in why some plants around the world care about safety. That threat of
prosecution can involve everything from fines, jail time, and even death.
Regardless of the potential outcomes the possibility of prosecution has a traumatic
effect in some plants in our industry. In the United States the threat of fines
to the company and the possibility of lawsuits have been the norm for decades. There
have been arguments on whether fining the company is enough. Here is a recent
story that has the potential to shock the aluminium plants in the USA.
The Department of Labor and the Department of
Justice have established a new
initiative to prevent and deter crimes that jeopardize the lives and health of
workers. The initiative strengthens the ability of the two departments to
investigate and prosecute employers who fail to provide a safe workplace for
their employees. Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu joined Deputy Attorney
General Sally Yates in signing the agreement during a ceremony at the Dept. of
Justice on December 17, 2015.
The Memorandum
of Understanding calls for the Justice
Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney's
Offices to work with the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, Mine Safety and Health Administration, and Wage and Hour
Division to investigate and prosecute worker endangerment violations. The
worker safety statutes generally provide for only misdemeanor penalties, and
the new initiative will encourage them to use the federal criminal and penal
code and environmental offenses, which often occur in conjunction with worker
safety crimes, to enhance penalties and increase deterrence.
The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog commends any
action by a government organization that will make our industry safer. The following
of the industry’s best practices toward safety vary from plant to plant. In the
USA we feel this may have a shocking effect on some plants. While other plants
will notice nothing.
Looking back at the various APSB posts
involving incidents in the USA. We wonder how many of them would result in
prosecution of the employer if they occurred this year. We will never know. We
hope that this new action by the US Department of Justice and OSHA will force
aluminium companies in the USA to reexamine their safety programs.
Please comment.
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