The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a memorandum in August outlining the steps needed for employers to be removed from the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP).
The SVEP brings greater enforcement measures and penalties to bear against employers who fail to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act. To be added to the SVEP, companies must experience a fatality or accident that hospitalizes at least three workers, or be cited for significant violations of OSHA standards. Since the SVEP began, 330 employers have been designated severe violators. Of those, 59 have successfully appealed the citation that resulted in their being added to the list, and been removed from it as a result.
Severe violators may be subject to worksite inspections by OSHA and other follow-up visits, as well as other measures meant to improve safety. Unless it is able to successfully appeal, an employer will not be removed until it has addressed all the issues that were raised, including the payment of penalties, complied with settlement provisions and ended the original violations.
Employers are evaluated after three years. If they do not settle the matter within that time, then they will likely remain within the SVEP for another three years before re-evaluation. With the recent update, OSHA has completed SVEP policy so employers will now have a clearer idea of what to expect should they be labelled as severe violators.
Reactions to the information
Some employers expressed displeasure and dissatisfaction that the removal criteria were not clarified sooner, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Some also reacted negatively to some of the program's specifics, such as the fact that the three-year count until a review does not begin until the underlying enforcement action has become a final order.
One expert took issue with that fact, saying that it is unfair when the initial process that qualifies employers for the program does not require a final order to move forward. Making the exit requirements stricter than the entry requirements in that fashion is unfair, he told SHRM. Waiting to begin the removal process that allows employers off the list effectively penalizes those who choose to contest their identification as severe violators.
Employers should keep the consequences associated with the SVEP in mind when dealing with HR compliance matters and safety issues. It is possible OSHA's policy will change in the future, but any significant alterations are likely to take time, despite the strength of some complaints about the rules.
