Use of OSHA penalty money for safety equipment

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

December 8, 1995

The Honorable Rick Santorum
United States Senate
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Senator Santorum:

This is in reply to your June 22, 1995, inquiry concerning your constituent, Mr. Michael J. Polyak, of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. His employer, Ametek-West Chester Plastics Division, was initially fined $23,425 last year for a number of serious workplace violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) regulations. The company negotiated with our Wilkes-Barre Area Office over the cited conditions and the size of the fine. Ametek-West Chester Plastics agreed to correct all of the violations and to pay a reduced penalty of $11,712. Please accept my apology for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

Mr. Polyak is President of the Local Union at the plant and has presented, on behalf of his local, an interesting proposal, and one which has been made before by others. He suggested that instead of OSHA collecting penalty money from a company for workplace infractions of the OSHA law, the money be used by the company to buy safety equipment and provide safety training to the workers.

Mr. Polyak's proposal may appear practical, provided an employer is inspected and cited by OSHA. But such an approach would foster very little, if any, voluntary compliance on the part of some companies who would have no reason to protect their employees from workplace hazards until the OSHA inspector arrived at the workplace. The civil penalty is intended to act as an inducement to compliance for all employers. Without the assurance of monetary penalties for lack of compliance, there would be little incentive for companies to buy safety equipment or provide training to their workers.

The OSH Act of 1970 stipulated that civil penalties shall be assessed to employers who violate the requirements of the Act, and that such penalties shall be paid to the Secretary of Labor for deposit into the Treasury of the United States. OSHA, therefore, would not be able to approve Mr. Polyak's proposal.

Thank you for referring Mr. Polyak's letter and for the opportunity to comment on his concerns. We hope this information will assist you in responding to your constituent.

Sincerely,
Joseph A. Dear
Assistant Secretary

[Requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]