GAO: Labor safety program is inadequate

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ib1XHnjECbmiGNaaWnWnoh2OpUygD98TAKO80

By SAM HANANEL

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional investigators say the Labor Department has poorly managed a program that allows companies with good safety records to skip routine inspections — and mistakenly allowed some businesses with serious violations to participate in it.

In a report issued Thursday, the Government Accountability Office said the agency's Occupational Safety and Health Administration lacks controls to make sure the right businesses are participating in the program.

Companies allowed into the Voluntary Protection Program are supposed to have exemplary safety and health records, no current enforcement actions, and injury and illness rates below the industry average.

Instead, the report found, OSHA officials allowed entry to some companies that didn't meet the criteria and allowed others to remain in the program even after they were cited for workplace hazards.

One site had three separate fatalities over a five-year period, yet was allowed to stay in the program.

The program, which began in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan, was part of several efforts backed by Republicans to loosen OSHA enforcement and create a more cooperative relationship between business and government.

FULL story at link.