Changes from OSHA that will affect the Ski Industry

Working with OSHA is always difficult in our industry because we know the best ways to keep people safe in our situations. However, OSHA regulations sometimes force us to ignore those.

OSHA’s new concern is employers either intentionally or unintentionally encourage employees not to report injuries. In some cases, the medical bills are paid by the employer and not reported. In others the employer through a system of rewards or other ways has created an environment encouraging employees not to report their injuries.

The obvious example is the minor injury and the employer pays for the medical costs out of the company. The programs that will be difficult are those where an incentive program is set up to encourage employees not to get injured at work. The employees take care of their own injuries or just plain do not report their injuries not to lose those incentives, with or without the employer’s knowledge or support.

Either way is a $70,000 fine per occurrence.

See A Conversation With Assistant Secretary for OSHA Dr. David Michaels – What to Do About Safety Incentives?

For more information about OSHA record keeping see Recordkeeping Policies and Procedures Manual or OSHA Recordkeeping Handbook.

The next issue is OSHA is increasing its fine structure. Violating OSHA regulations is going to be more expensive. Violating OSHA regulations two or more times in Five years could be 300% more expensive.
See New campaign launched for harsher OSHA fines, OSHA increases fines for serious violations or OSHA Announces an Increase in Civil Penalties and a Severe Violators Enforcement Program.



Keywords: outdoor law, recreation law, outdoor recreation law, adventure travel law, OSHA, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Workplace injuries, worker’s compensation,