{"id":12115,"date":"2025-07-31T17:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=12115"},"modified":"2025-10-29T14:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:50:17","slug":"osha-the-optional-safety-and-health-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2025\/07\/31\/osha-the-optional-safety-and-health-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"OSHA: The Optional Safety and Health Administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Y<\/span>ou are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of actual sight and sound, but of corporate greed and domination. It is the middle ground between life and death, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of workers’ fears and the summit of corporate power. A journey into an unfettered, but deadly land of deregulation.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Next stop, the Trump Zone!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Location:<\/strong> Any workplace in Trump’s United States.<\/p>\n

The Time:<\/strong> The not-too-distant future<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Trump administration has recently proposed major cuts<\/a> to OSHA enforcement and issued a number of deregulatory actions<\/a> as well as new policies that weaken OSHA’s enforcement process<\/a>. If they continue, how are these actions likely to play out in America’s workplaces? Let’s take a look…..<\/em><\/p>\n

You are a construction worker. You’ve been trained in previous jobs about the necessity — and legal requirement — of using fall protection equipment when you’re up on a roof.<\/em><\/p>\n

But when you complain to your supervisor about being sent to work on the roof of a two-story house without any fall protection, his reply is “Well, I guess you just better be careful.”<\/em><\/p>\n

When you threaten to call OSHA, he says if you do that, you can just go find another job.<\/em><\/p>\n

But you know he can’t legally retaliate against you for calling OSHA to report an unsafe work situation, so you call OSHA to report being forced to work at height without fall protection.<\/em><\/p>\n

A Day In The Life<\/h2>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Thank you for calling OSHA, the Optional Safety and Health Administration where we meet businesses where they are<\/a>. I hope you’re having a safe day. How can we help?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: The Optional<\/em>\u00a0Safety and Health Administration?\u00a0 Don’t you mean “occupational?”<\/p>\n

Whatever. Anyway, my boss is forcing us to work two stories up without fall protection. How soon can you get someone out here?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Thank you for that report. And thanks to President Trump and Secretary Chavez-DeRemer, your employer has been offered the opportunity<\/a> to comply with regulations that help maintain a safe working environment.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Yeah, well he’s not taking advantage of that “opportunity.” Anyway, it’s not an “opportunity,” it’s a requirement. It’s the law!<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Yes, it is the law. Well, actually, it was <\/em>the law. I’m happy to inform you that OSHA’s fall protection standard has been repealed.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Wait. What? Why?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, OSHA has determined that the fall protection standard is not reasonably necessary or appropriate<\/a> under section 3(8) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act because it does not substantially reduce a significant risk to workers.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: What? How is falling off a roof not<\/em> a significant risk to workers?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 Well, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. (Sorry, that was a joke.)<\/p>\n

But seriously, we all know that unlawful, unnecessary, and onerous regulations impede economic growth<\/a>. And OSHA has determined that the fall protection standard is unnecessary because it does not provide significant protection beyond what would exist without the standard. That’s because the hazard\u2014 falling to your death \u2014is obvious<\/a> to employers and employees, as is the means to address it.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Well, if the hazard — and the fix — are so obvious, why isn’t my employer protecting us?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Sir, President Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to implement the difficult, but necessary process of deconstructing the overbearing and burdensome administrative state<\/a>. And the fall protection standard has been identified as a regulation that imposes an undue burden<\/a> on small businesses and impedes private enterprise and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

We wouldn’t want to impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship, now would we sir?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Actually, I’m more concerned about keeping me and my buddies alive. So what do I do now?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, the good news is, you’re still covered by the General Duty Clause. Uh, unless you’re a performer<\/a>. You’re not a performer, are you?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: No, we’re just construction workers.\u00a0 You know, the people who build America?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I’m familiar.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: OK, how soon before we can get someone out to do a General Duty Clause investigation?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, the good news is that due to recent government streamlining, we will probably schedule an inspection around the 12th of Never.\u00a0 How does that sound?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: How does that sound? It sounds like we’re going to die.\u00a0 How does that make sense?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 Well the good news is that due to DOGE’s streamlining and elimination of waste, fraud and abuse, OSHA doesn’t have enough inspectors left<\/a> to visit your worksite anytime this century.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Wait, how is that “good news?”<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Instead of confrontational inspections, we’re happy to announce that\u00a0this administration is building a culture of compliance and trust<\/a>. Your employer is eligible for our newly expanded Voluntary Protection Program<\/a>, where the best<\/em> employers are allowed to evaluate themselves and avoid routine inspections, so together you can help develop strong safety programs and lower injury rates.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Voluntary Protection Program? VPP? Isn’t that the program that a Cintas plant<\/a> in North Carolina belonged to where a worker just got killed?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Oh, well, accidents happen you know.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Yeah, right. Look, we’re just a small company and the owner is the opposite of the “best” employer. I mean, I can see right in front of my eyes that he’s not interested in developing any kind of safety program and workers are going to get hurt and killed here.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I see. So you’re working for a small employer, er, I mean a small entrepreneur<\/em>\u00a0who drives our economy<\/a>?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Well, I don’t know if he’s driving our economy, but he is definitely driving a Mercedes.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, in that case, as a small employer, he’s eligible for OSHA’s other voluntary compliance service:\u00a0 OSHA’s Onsite Consultation Program<\/a> where he can take advantage of free and confidential safety and health services.<\/p>\n

And by relying on good cooperative voluntary programs instead of bad confrontational enforcement, we are reducing your employer’s likelihood of a formal investigation or litigation<\/a>. Isn’t that good news?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Not if you want to come home alive at the end of the day. But that free consultation program sounds good. How do I sign up?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: No, you can’t sign up. Your employer has to volunteer for that program.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. Sounds to me like voluntary programs only work if your employer volunteers<\/em> for them.\u00a0 \u00a0Judging from his performance, it doesn’t look like my boss is likely to volunteer for any OSHA voluntary service. This whole thing sounds like a bunch of baloney.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I’m sorry you feel that way, because by empowering your employer<\/a> with clarity and collaboration, OSHA’s voluntary programs put you and your co-workers first!<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: “Clarity,” “collaboration,” “empowerment?” Sounds like some kind of new-age corporate-speak.\u00a0 Did you all pay someone good money to come up with that?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Uh, probably?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Well let me give some free help<\/p>\n

You want clarity? OK,\u00a0 let me be perfectly clear: You can repeal all the regulations you want, but unless you can figure out a way to repeal the law of gravity, we’ve got a serious problem. Someone is going to die here.<\/p>\n

And I don’t know who my boss is collaborating<\/em> with, but it sure as hell isn’t his workers. The only thing you’re empowering<\/em> him to do is put his profits first.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, it is OSHA’s mission to meet businesses where they are<\/a> on their safety journey.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Meet businesses where they are?\u00a0 You know where my employer is on his so-called “safety journey?” Nowhere. That’s where he is.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I understand. And “nowhere” is exactly where we’re meeting him.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Oh shit, someone just fell off the roof.\u00a0 Now will you get your asses out here?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, that depends. If he’s dead, we’ll be right out. If he’s just injured, we’ll consider putting you on the inspection schedule. Next opening is….October 2.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: What? That’s like two months from now!<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Yes, and that’s because you’re now on a priority list. Oh, and that’s only if the Democrats don’t shut the government down at the end of the Fiscal Year on October 1.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: This is ridiculous. Let me talk to your supervisor<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I’m sorry, I don’t have a supervisor. She was streamlined out of her job yesterday.\u00a0 I’m only a contractor.<\/p>\n

Oh, and oops.\u00a0 I was just notified that my contract has been terminated.<\/p>\n

Goodbye.<\/p>\n

6 Months Later<\/h2>\n

You<\/strong>: Hello, OSHA?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Thank you for calling OSHA, the Optional Safety and Health Administration where we meet employers where they are. I hope you’re having a safe day.\u00a0 How can we help?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: I’m calling about a citation that was just issued to my employer.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 You’re welcome. Happy we could help. What else can we do for you?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: One of my co-workers fell off a roof 6 months ago — after<\/em> I called to file a complaint. He’s paralyzed from the waist down.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I’m very sorry to hear that. But you say OSHA issued a citation?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Yes. For a grand total of $29.95.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I’m very happy to hear that.\u00a0 Is there anything else I can help you with?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: $29.95 for a preventable, permanently disabling injury in clear violation of the law? How do you justify that?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: I’ll be happy to get that information for you. Please hold……<\/p>\n

[20 minutes later]. Hello, sir, I have the information you requested.\u00a0 As you know, the maximum penalty was around $16,514, but the good news is that there were several reductions for which your employer was eligible.<\/p>\n

First, he gets a discount for being a small entrepreneur who drives our economy. I’m sure you’ll agree that small employers like yours, who are working in good faith<\/a> to comply with complex federal laws, should not face the same penalties as large employers with abundant resources. Wouldn’t you agree?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: “Good faith?” Haven’t seen anything resembling that. And it sounds to me like OSHA thinks that a worker who works for a small employer doesn’t have the same right to life as a worker who works for a large employer. Does that make any sense?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 Well, that’s the law sir. But I’m afraid you are failing to see the full picture. You see, by reducing penalties to barely noticeable levels, we are giving these small employers the tools they need<\/a> to keep workers safe and healthy on the job while keeping them accountable and to correct potential violations proactively.<\/p>\n

Does that makes sense?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Not even a little bit. My employer already had all the tools he needed to protect his workers and he didn’t use them.\u00a0 And how is it proactive to issue tiny penalties to employers after<\/em> a preventable injury instead of correcting hazards in the first place?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 It’s a mystery.<\/p>\n

But happily, your employer received another reduction for having a clean history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Wait, what? a clean history? This guy has never known an OSHA standard he hasn’t violated. Workers are getting hurt here every day here. His injury rates are way above the industry average. How does he have a clean history?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 Well, he’s never had a citation.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: That’s only because he had never been inspected.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, sir, as you know, because of recent streamlining, OSHA is only able to visit every workplace in the country every six or seven centuries, so almost no workplaces are getting inspected.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: So he gets a penalty reduction because OSHA is too underfunded to inspect a workplace in several lifetimes?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Yes, that’s correct. But by reducing the penalty, we have provided him with an opportunity<\/a> to comply with OSHA standards. So, there’s that.<\/p>\n

Oh, and finally, he also received a “quick fix<\/a>” reduction because only a week and a half after we inspected, your employer dug the fall protection equipment out of storage and allowed workers to use it.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Wait, so you knew<\/em> he had the fall protection available and you knew<\/em> he didn’t allow workers to use it until almost two weeks after you showed up — after someone got hurt — and that’s considered a “quick fix?”\u00a0 And he gets a reduction for that?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Yes, that’s correct.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: What the actual fuck?<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>:\u00a0 Now sir, there is really no reason to be confrontational. We are attempting to replace anger and confrontation with a culture of compliance and trust<\/a>, which is always better. Don’t you agree?<\/p>\n

You<\/strong>: Definitely not if it means workers getting injured and killed.<\/p>\n

OSHA<\/strong>: Well, I’m sorry to hear that. Now, is there anything else I can help you with today? If not, thank you for giving us the opportunity to fulfill the Optional Safety and Health Administration’s mission of putting both workers and employers first<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oh, and please stay on the line to participate in our new customer satisfaction survey.<\/p>\n

Goodbye. And let’s be careful out there.<\/p>\n

The Trump Zone<\/h2>\n

This working man understood that the journey of every man and woman on this earth ends in death. Yet over the millennia, human civilization has struggled to create laws and establish a social order to ensure that we do not leave this life before our time. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But when the powerful forces of corporate greed elect false idols who employ specious rhetoric to justify the weakening of those laws and the undermining of that social order — and working people die as a result — civilization must inevitably crumble and perish. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When that time arrives, y<\/span><\/strong>ou have entered the Trump Zone.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of actual sight and sound, but of corporate greed and domination. It is the middle ground between life and death, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of workers’ fears and the summit of corporate power. 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