Worker deaths, serious injuries could result in a felony under bill from Sen. Tammy Baldwin
John Diedrich
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and five other lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday to beef up punishment for companies and their leaders that knowingly commit violations resulting in worker deaths or severe injuries.
Citing dangerous conditions at a chain of barrel reconditioning plants, Baldwin said the bill would give the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration stronger tools to go after offenders and extend its jurisdiction to government workers and others currently not covered by OSHA.
Baldwin, who has written several letters demanding action on the barrel plants' case, noted current law only allows prosecutors to issue a misdemeanor charge in a case where willful violations of safety rules resulted in a worker's death. Current law allows for a $10,000 fine and six months in jail for a first offense and a $20,000 fine and a year in prison for someone who has already been convicted.
The bill would make such violations a felony and extend penalties to corporate officers and directors. It also would set the OSHA civil fine for a worker’s death caused by a willful violation at a minimum of $50,000.
“It is unacceptable that workers face unsafe working conditions or risk losing their job if they file a complaint," Baldwin said in a news release Friday. "This legislation will improve the rights of employees, foster the safety of their workplaces and hold accountable the bad actors who break the law and do harm to American workers.”
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation exposed a series of problems that put workers at risk and endangered residents living near the barrel refurbishing plants in St. Francis, Milwaukee and Oak Creek and three other states — Tennessee, Indiana and Arkansas.
The plants refurbish 55-gallon steel drums and large plastic chemical containers, cleaning them for reuse or recycling.
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Workers at the plants told the Journal Sentinel that chemicals were routinely mixed together, triggering dangerous reactions that resulted in chemical and heat-related burns, injuries from exploding barrels, breathing difficulties and other health problems.
Five agencies have leveled more than 70 violations of environmental and workplace laws against the plants. OSHA found 18 violations at the three plants and has issued about $130,000 in fines. The company is contesting OSHA violations at the Milwaukee and St. Francis facilities.
At the Oak Creek plant, OSHA inspectors were delayed from entering the plant for two hours and when they finally got in, several workers were on lunch break.
The three plants, known locally as Mid-America, are operated by Container Life Cycle Management, a joint venture majority owned by Greif Inc., a $3.3 billion Ohio-based firm. CLCM also operates plants in Arkansas and Tennessee. Its plant in Indiana was recently closed.
Will Kramer, who was working as a safety consultant and became a whistleblower after he saw conditions in the plants, said current penalties are "pocket change" to a company like Greif.
"This legislation puts more teeth in OSHA's bite and may make corporate executives think twice when they prioritize profits over human life. If it passes, it will save lives, simple as that," Kramer said.
Baldwin's bill also could provide greater protections for whistleblowers like Kramer and would require companies to correction violations, even if they are disputing them.
The bill, called the "Protecting America’s Workers Act," is cosponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
Read the investigation
To read the Journal Sentinel's "Burned" investigation, into safety hazards at drum reconditioning plants, go to jsonline.com/burned.