As you know, the current Administration has signaled that “enforcement” (inspections and citations) will be its primary focus to regulate workplace safety, including enhanced penalties, higher gravity citations and significant enforcement consequences for employers who fall within the Severe Violators Enforcement Program(SVEP). Not to be forgotten is the protection against retaliation afforded to employees under the Act for engaging in “protected activity”, including “whistleblowing”. Dr. David Michaels recently termed this provision of the Act a “legal dinosaur” and has stated that retaliation complaints will be much more aggressively invetsigated by the agency. The enclosed article discusses this agenda and contains recommendations as to how to develop a policy and respond to complaints.
Read full article here.
