This rulemaking would make adjustments to the penalty rule to more effectively use Oregon OSHA’s existing penalty authority. Both nationally and at state levels, it has been suggested that Oregon OSHA penalties are not as effective as they might be in promoting health and safety in the workplace. The proposal grows not out of a desire to increase penalties but is instead an effort to develop a more effective approach to use penalties to encourage employers to comply with safety and health rules.

That is how OR-OSHA recently announced their proposed rulemaking to modify how penalty amounts are calculated.  The proposal calls for 6 significant changes to their existing method of penalty assessment. The list below is taken from the original announcement and is condensed for this article.  Full text at http://www.orosha.org/pdf/notices/proposed2011/div1penalties_ltr.pdf

1. Increasing the difference between small employer and large employer penalties.  

-The change to increase the difference between small employer and large employer penalties is proposed as a way to better motivate larger employers. The current penalty structure may motivate the small employer but is unlikely to motivate the larger employer to the same degree.

Ask 10 people what fall protection means and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. For many in the construction industry, equipment is the first thing that comes to mind: personal fall-arrest systems, safety nets, or guardrails, for example.

Fall protection is more than just equipment. Fall protection is what you do to eliminate fall hazards and to prevent falls through employee training and documentation.

A contractor was recently visited by OR-OSHA who was interested in their fall protection program, specifically employee training. The employer had a fall protection program in their safety manual, a site specific fall protection plan and provided employee training records from tool box talks and completion of an OSHA 10 course.

Strangely, that was not enough for the inspector.