Tag Archives: Severe Violator Enforcement Program

July 24, 2013

OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program — Washington Legal Foundation Legal Backgrounder

By Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. of Epstein Becker & Green

Last week, Washington Legal Foundation published a Legal Backgrounder regarding OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (“SVEP”) authored by Eric J. Conn, Head of Epstein Becker & Green’s national OSHA Practice Group.  The Legal Backgrounder expands on a series of posts here on the OSHA Law Update blog regarding OSHA’s controversial Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

The article focuses on a White Paper issued by OSHA this Spring, in which OSHA analyzes the first 18 months of its new, controversial enforcement program.  The White Paper concludes that the SVEP is “off to a strong start” and is “already meeting certain key goals,” including:

Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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July 19, 2013

Is OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program Broken?

By William A. Ruskin of Epstein Becker & Green

OSHA issued a White Paper on February 26, 2013, analyzing the first 18 months of its new, controversial enforcement initiative known as the “Severe Violator Enforcement Program” (“SVEP”). The White Paper concludes that the SVEP is “off to a strong start” and “already meeting certain key goals,” including:

1. Identifying recalcitrant employers whose violations of the OSH Act “demonstrate indifference to the health and safety of their employees.”
2. Effectively guiding OSHA’s enforcement resources toward those employers by “targeting high-emphasis hazards, facilitating inspections across multiple worksites . . . and by providing Regional and State Plan offices with a nationwide referral procedure.”

Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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February 4, 2013

OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program Defies Constitution – Feed & Green Magazine Article (Jan. 2013 )

By Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. of Epstein Becker & Green

The January/February 2013 issue of Feed & Green Magazine featured an article entitled “Severe Violator Enforcement Program Defies Constitution” authored by Eric J. Conn, the Head of EBG’s national OSHA Practice Group.  The article expands on a series of posts here on the OSHA Law Update blog regarding OSHA’s controversial Severe Violator Enforcement Program (“SVEP”).

The article provides a detailed explanation about the SVEP, including:

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September 19, 2012

OSHA Reveals Unfair Exit Criteria from Its Unconstitutional Severe Violator Enforcement Program

By Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. of Epstein Becker & Green

By Eric J. Conn, Head of the OSHA Practice Group

On June 18, 2010 OSHA replaced its much-maligned Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP) with a new and equally problematic initiative called the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP).  The SVEP is intended to focus OSHA’s enforcement resources on those employers whom OSHA believes demonstrate indifference to their OSH Act obligations by committing certain types of violations, including:

  • Any violation categorized as “Egregious”;
  • One or more Willful, Repeat or Failure-to-Abate violations associated with a fatality or the overnight hospitalization of three or more employees;
  • Two or more Willful, Repeat or Failure-to-Abate violations in connection with a high emphasis hazard (generally speaking, the subjects of OSHA’s special emphasis programs, including falls, amputations, grain handling, etc.); or
  • Three or more Willful, Repeat or Failure-to-Abate violations related to Process Safety Management (prevention of the release of a highly hazardous chemicals).
Posted in Legal Updates | North America
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