OSHA Safety News

From Coastal Training Technologies



OSHA NewsRevamping the EEP and increasing OSHA funding.Last April 30, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee concluded in a hearing that a "special worker health and safety program is not working and needs to be refocused." The Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP) seeks to identify and target "high-risk employers" based on past performance.

However, as an Inspector General report revealed, OSHA did not carry out the aims of the EEP properly and did not prevent employers' from risking the lives of their workers. Witnesses in the hearing also testified that the scope of current EEP is limited, precludes "corporate-wide investigations" and neglects "the most flagrant violations that occur before workers are killed."

Several government officials are calling for and undertaking a revamp of the EEP. Last month, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis cited the details of the DOL budget, whose overall aim is to "restore worker protection programs and revitalize employment opportunities for the American workforce."

The total requested budget for the DOL is $104.5 billion, most of which will be mobilized for "unemployment insurance benefits for displaced workers and federal workers' compensation." $1.7 billion will be allocated for worker protection programs and $564 million for OSHA.

Both increases are 10 percent more than last year's. The OSHA budget increase entails the hiring 1,000 new workers, including 670 investigators. To see other details of the budget and learn more about the EEP revamp, click on Laura Walter's EHSToday article here.