More than half of employers cited for COVID-19 safety problems by federal OSHA authorities have appealed, according to a Reuters analysis of OSHA enforcement data. That compares to 8% of fined companies that appealed in the five years before the pandemic, according to OSHA data. During the appeals – which can drag on for years – companies don’t have to pay fines and aren’t required to fix problems identified by OSHA inspectors.
The payment delays follow the agency’s larger failure to hold employers accountable for unsafe conditions during the pandemic, a Reuters special report revealed in January. Reuters identified dozens of workplaces where employees complained of slipshod pandemic safety around the time of outbreaks – and regulators never inspected the facilities or, in some cases, took months to do so. (For full story, click https://reut.rs/3jC2hQf )