Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] is responsible for increasing the costs of production in the United States on the grounds that the regulatory body must assure a safe working environment for labor.

        As justification for imposing the increases and perhaps running some borderline companies, not too big to fail, out of business is that “there are millions of people out there who go to work every day fearing that they won’t come home alive or healthy at the end of the day; or that they won’t live long enough to enjoy their retirement.”

        The Obama administration intends to increase the number of inspectors and perform many more inspections. The penalties for each violation will also be increased drastically.

        So far in the short few months the Obama administration has collected more than $1.1 million in penalties from Milk Specialties Co, in Whitehall Wis. $225,000 from a New Hampshire firearms manufacturer in New Hampshire. A few more like that and guns will be much less dangerous without ammunition. Then there was $141,000 in fines from that oil company in New Jersey the Hess Corp; $105,000 in sunny Orlando, and a Petrolia, PA chemical company donated  $121,000 to the treasury; $118,000 came out of Torrington, Conn, and $273,000 in fines from a Jamestown, NY employer, and from El Paso, Tex a $106,000 reminder not to violate the Administration again.

        Lawyers will also have a better crop of workers’ compensation cases because the lawyer’s friend, President Obama will outlaw incentive programs that give prizes to company employees for not reporting work injuries.

        We workers’ compensation lawyers need to write Labor Secretary Solis a thank you note for speaking out for the downtrodden. Solute her for saying that in no uncertain terms that the Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business, and we “are serious, very serious”. That should put the fear of god into companies that employ laborers in high paying industrial jobs.

        On top of the fines, OSHA makes sure that the violating company makes expensive changes to assure that there will be no further injuries of this type.

        The criminal bar will also be pleased to know that there are likely to be more criminal prosecutions of executives where “serious” injuries occur. A back operation sounds pretty serious. So the executive should not be out of jail before the workers is released back to duty.

        Then of course there is the threat of EEOC and more work for trial attorneys to force the employer to make an accommodation for the injured employee. The employer must continue to employ the employee so the employee can continue to work in the employee’s disabled condition. This is just another way the Obama administration will save jobs.