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U.S. Department of Labor | OSHA | Office of Communications | 202-693-1999
The Departments of Justice and Labor announce expansion of worker endangerment initiative to address environmental and worker safety violations
Justice
Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division will work with the
Department of Labor and U.S. attorneys for broader look at environmental and workplace safety crimes
WASHINGTON – In an effort to
prevent and deter crimes that put the lives and the health of workers at risk,
the Departments of Justice and Labor announced today 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. Attorney’s 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.
“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,” said Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates. “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.”
“Safety and security in the
workplace are a shared commitment. Workplace injuries and illnesses cause an
enormous amount of physical, financial and emotional hardship for workers and
their families, and underscore the urgent need for employers to provide a safe
workplace for their employees,” said Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Chris
Lu. “Today’s announcement demonstrates a renewed commitment by both the
Department of Labor and the Department of Justice to utilize criminal
prosecution as an enforcement tool to protect the health and safety of
workers.”
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’s Environment and Natural
Resource Division’s Environmental Crimes Section. In in a memo sent today to
all 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country, Deputy Attorney General 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. However, 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, and the Mine Safety and Health Act (MINE Act).
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.
Additional Background:
The signature success of the earlier efforts was the
successful prosecution of McWane, Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe http://www.justice.gov/enrd/us-v-mcwane-corp
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2014 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm
John Cruden 2010 testimony before Congress on this
issue: http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/testimonies/witnesses/attachments/2010/03/16/2010-03-16-enrd-cruden-occupational.pdf
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