In an effort to prevent and deter crimes that put the lives and the health of workers at risk, the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor last month announced a plan to more effectively prosecute such crimes.
Under the new plan, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will work with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to investigate and prosecute worker endangerment violations.
David Uhlmann, a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and former head of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes unit said that the Department’s “renewed focus on worker endangerment is a welcome development that will be enhanced by the political support of senior administration officials and the decision to transfer responsibility for worker safety violations to the Environment and Natural Resources Division, which has the strongest track record of aggressively pursuing worker endangerment.”
“Most companies in America care about their workers and would never expose them to grievous harm but far too many employers do not — with tragic results,” Uhlmann said. “The horrible deaths during the Gulf oil spill and the Upper Big Branch mine disaster make clear that we need a heightened focus on worker endangerment and a stronger partnership between the Justice Department and the Labor Department.”
“Now Congress needs to do its part and update the 1970s era worker safety and mine safety laws so that killing or endangering workers is a felony that exposes culpable management officials to significant jail time,” Uhlmann said.
On an average day in America, 13 workers die on the job, thousands are injured and 150 succumb to diseases they obtained from exposure to carcinogens and other toxic and hazardous substances while they worked.
“Given the troubling statistics on workplace deaths and injuries, the Department of Justice is redoubling its efforts to hold accountable those who unlawfully jeopardize workers’ health and safety,” said Justice Department official Sally Yates.
Starting last year, the Departments of Justice and Labor began meetings to explore a joint effort to increase the frequency and effectiveness of criminal prosecutions of worker endangerment violations.
This culminated in a decision to consolidate the authorities to pursue worker safety statutes within the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resource Division’s Environmental Crimes Section.
In a memo sent to all 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country, Yates urged federal prosecutors to work with the Environmental Crimes Section in pursuing worker endangerment violations.
The worker safety statutes generally provide for only misdemeanor penalties.
But prosecutors have now been encouraged to consider utilizing Title 18 and environmental offenses, which often occur in conjunction with worker safety crimes, to enhance penalties and increase deterrence.
Statutes included in this plan are the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) and the Mine Safety and Health Act (MINE Act).
“We have seen that employers who are willing to cut corners on worker safety laws to maximize production and profit, will also turn a blind eye to environmental laws,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Working with our partners in the Department of Labor and law enforcement, we will remove the profit from these crimes by vigorously prosecuting employers who break safety and environmental laws at the expense of American workers.”
“Every worker has the right to come home safely. While most employers try to do the right thing, we know that strong sanctions are the best tool to ensure that low road employers comply with the law and protect workers lives,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “More frequent and effective prosecution of these crimes will send a strong message to those employers who fail to provide a safe workplace for their employees. We look forward to working with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to enforce these life-saving rules when employers violate workplace safety, workers’ health and environmental regulations.”
In addition to prosecuting environmental crimes, the Environment and Natural Resources Division has also been strengthening its efforts to pursue civil cases that involve worker safety violations under statutes such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Violations of a number of provisions under these statutes can have a direct impact on workers tasked with handling dangerous chemicals and other materials, cleaning up spills and responding to hazardous releases.