The Obama administration is getting tough with employers who violate work-safety rules, imposing penalties never used until now.

 

For only the second time in the history of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA officials have issued what’s known as an “enterprise-wide” solution on a company caught putting its employees at risk.

 

Usually, OSHA tells a business to fix problems found at a specific store or location. But in the case of the DeMoulas Super Markets grocery chain, also known as Market Basket, the agency demanded that the company improve working conditions at more than 60 stores and ensure that they comply with federal standards.

 

OSHA inspectors found “fall hazards from unguarded, open-sided work and storage areas” at several of the chain store’s locations. They also uncovered the fact that the company “allegedly failed to protect employees in produce, deli, and bakery department against laceration hazards from knives and cutting instruments.”

 

The only other time OSHA imposed an enterprise-wide solution was last year, when the U.S. Postal Service was told to fix ongoing electrical safety problems at hundreds of post offices.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Is OSHA Getting Tougher? For 2nd Time Ever, Federal Agency Pushes Company-Wide Settlement (by Mike Elk, In These Times)

US Labor Department Files Complaint To Require Demoulas Super Markets To Address Hazards At Market Basket Stores In Massachusetts And New Hampshire (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)