Catherwood LibraryILR School

Urged on by a New York Times series revealing a pattern of flagrant safety violations leading to 4,600 injuries and nine deaths at pipe-manufacturer McWane Inc. since 1995, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is adopting aggressive new policies. Targeted at repeat offenders like McWane Inc., the new policies include improvements in follow-up investigations, widespread investigations of companies where major violations occur, and the use of federal contempt orders to force compliance from recalcitrant employers. Given the dramatic drop in already low fines for safety violations under the anti-regulation stance of the Bush presidency (see WIT's for April 5, and April 19, 2002), safety advocates' responses to the new policies have ranged from criticism of OSHA's overall weakness, to recognition of its attempts to function within a hostile administration.