Safety enforcement

If an employee violates a written safety rule in which he was trained, but the employer lacks evidence that safety rules are enforced, an OSHA citation might be in the employer's future. Even if the safety director has a training session sheet the employee signed, the employer can receive a citation if they have no evidence that the safety rule has been enforced.

OSHA rules state that an employer must make “a diligent effort to discourage, by discipline if necessary, violations of safety rules by employees, up to and including discharge.” Thus, employers must: establish work rules to prevent violations; communicate them to employees; take steps to discover violations; and, enforce the rules when violations are discovered.

Employers need a systematic way of recording previous infractions so that discipline progresses when an infraction occurs.

A better way to avoid the problem may be maintaining a central file of employee violations and discipline, starting from oral warnings. Such a central file – especially if it is computerized – would eliminate the burden of going through every employee's records to prove that enforcement occurred. The file will demonstrate compliance with OSHA’s safety enforcement policy, so inspectors won’t write costly citations.