Members of committee on education and workforce say in letter it is an important tool for enforcing labor safety

US lawmakers have written to the Department of Labor inquiring into reports some state safety agencies are tipping off employers before workplace inspections are conducted.

The letter from ranking Democratic members of the House committee on education and the workforce, the congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott and the congresswoman Dr Alma Adams, cites testimony from farm workers and advocates in California and a New York Times article on child labor where an employer in South Carolina admitted to ordering workers to clean up and prepare for an inspection after receiving a tip-off about an upcoming inspection from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha).

  • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
    18·
    3 months ago

    democrats are sounding the alarm that OSHA tips off employers? Anyone here work in an OSHA ‘regulated’ job? Are y’all surprised? cuz i saw it happen myself, and the old-heads told me it was a pretty standard practice.

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
        7·
        3 months ago

        if it seemed that way its on me. I don’t think its right, I am poking fun at the “Democrats” this article is mentioning who are ‘sounding an alarm’ about an issue their constituents have known and have been complaining about for decades

        • Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de
          5·
          3 months ago

          Some historians think we only got FDR’s New Deal because socialism was on the rise and liberals were scared there would be a socialist revolution. It wouldn’t surprise me if liberals only get their shit together when they are scared that people are considering alternatives to our broken 2 party system.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
      10·
      3 months ago

      Same. Happend in the factory I work in a few years ago… We were told the same, to clean up and wear protective gear.

      Naturally they came during the most beautiful day too so they couldn’t even see that we are quite literally a sweat shop. 75° dew point and 90° literally swimming in the air but OSHA happens to come on a beautiful 70° day…

      • Samvega
        8·
        3 months ago

        Profits are more important than the truth. You can’t eat the truth, can you? Or use it to buy a holiday in Fiji.

    • TommySoda@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 months ago

      If I were to tip off one of my coworkers about an OSHA inspection I’d be slapped with fines and fired. Even if I see one on the job site I wouldn’t even technically be allowed to point them out to the dude next to me. You know… If they were doing what they are supposed to be doing. I think the people that trained me on OSHA regulations took it more seriously than actual OSHA.

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        3 months ago

        I think the people who trained me on OSHA regulations took it more seriously than actual OSHA

        Real. My training required 30hrs of OSHA and it was the same smorgasbord of bull you get from every “safety first” company out there. You learn how it should be done and then you go work daily and see how work is really done. All that safety paperwork stuff is encouraged to be pencil whipped to cover the company’s ass, only used when something does go wrong to prove the employee was at fault and shift the blame to the employee for not following their official safety protocols. As you say OSHAs guys might say pop a guy or at least pull them aside for working unsafely so it looks like their doing something, but in my experience docking the jobsite itself just doesn’t happen.

        My experience is limited of course, but i feel like most of the safety construction workers enjoy is down to insurance companies and the fact companies who have a poor safety rating get blackballed from big projects

        Outta curiosity did you do that big 500hr class to become a safety specialist?

  • Snapz@lemmy.world
    7·
    3 months ago

    These are the kinds of quieter remnants of a trump admin… You can’t heal all 1000 cuts, so you triage the gushing wounds you can see with the time/energy you have.

    But when you let a fox in the hen house and they don’t always slaughter all the hens immediately, sometimes kill a couple, but they loosen a bunch of fence boards so other foxes can steal hens for years to come.

    Edit: a word

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    3 months ago

    we had to wait until killing fetuses was deemed illegal again so now it matters to ban fetus killing things too

  • bluGill@fedia.io
    2·
    3 months ago

    Often they have to do this. Most places that you would inspect have bio-security, safety, or other policies that need to be followed for good reasons. The first step of any inspection needs to be find out what those policies are and follow them. Generally the policies are reasonable and based off of sound science, but they are just different enough from place to place that you need to check. Often the place you are inspecting will arrange someone who knows the policies to go with you - but they need to ensure that person isn’t on vacation (or otherwise doing something that must be done). Of course checking in like that tips people off that you are going to inspect.

    If you enter a barn your clothing needs to be disinfected, you need to shower, and you can’t enter any other barn for a day (most farms with this policy have more than one barn so the inspection will be several days or you needs lots of inspectors). A forklift will not see you, so you need to understand where the safe places are so the forklift doesn’t run you over.

    I am for surprise inspections. However there is very good reason you cannot have them despite the value.

    • ZorsithEnglish
      8·
      3 months ago

      I would argue physical security is one of the big things tested by a surprise inspection: how your org/company/whatever handles unexpected visitors or intruders.

      • bluGill@fedia.io
        2·
        3 months ago

        Sure, but if you cannot get past the outside gate the inspection wasn’t worth much. (The Army would have no problem opening the gates, but that would probably be worse than whatever evil they are doing inside)

        • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
          2·
          3 months ago

          lil distinction. If i recall correctly OSHA doesnt have jurisdiction over the military excepting its civilian operations. i think their inspections are handled by the USACE (army core of engineers).