The Fissured Workplace by David Weil

Author:David Weil [Weil, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780674725447
Google: k4_zAgAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0674725441
Publisher: Harvard University
Published: 2014-02-02T23:00:00+00:00

Enterprise-Wide Agreements

Traditional workplace enforcement approaches focus on the workplace where violations are found and seeks remedies only at that level. However, significant violations at one workplace may suggest a wider pattern of violations for the enterprise with which the workplace is associated. A step forward is therefore to assure that the entire enterprise with which the workplace is affiliated also moves toward compliance as a result of the investigation. Many state-level labor enforcement agencies in recent years and the Obama administration have instigated the signing of corporate-wide settlement agreements where there is evidence that widespread problems exist.36

One example is an agreement reached between OSHA and Munro Muffler Company, an auto service provider with eight hundred stores across the country. A hydraulic lift at a Munro Muffler shop in Stoughton, Massachusetts, failed, causing a car to fall to the ground. Although no one was injured, the incident led to an OSHA inspection and a fine of $19,000. Munro initially contested the penalty but ultimately came to an agreement with OSHA on a settlement covering not only the garage where the accident occurred, but all of its facilities. Inspections of the Stoughton case revealed that the company lacked a corporate-wide policy dealing with safety risks posed by hydraulic lifts. The agreement requires Munro Muffler to develop and implement an inspection and maintenance program for lifts in all sites covered by OSHA. Program components include training for operators, ongoing inspections of equipment to assure compliance with industry standards, a requirement to remedy problems where they are identified, and provision of written reports to OSHA.37

Another illustrative enterprise-wide agreement arose from OSHA inspections of DeMoulas Supermarket (Market Basket) stores that found widespread fall and laceration hazards and resulted in penalties of $589,200. After contesting the initial citations, DeMoulas reached a settlement agreement with the Solicitor’s Office of the Department of Labor to both remedy the hazards and initiate a policy to prevent future hazards at the company’s sixty stores. Specifically, the agreement requires the company to develop a safety and health program for each store. Each program is required to cover monitoring and evaluation processes to gauge effectiveness, requirements to document and act on identified hazards and violations, and an explicit disciplinary program covering employees (including management) who violate standards. To ensure implementation of the policies, the agreement requires that DeMoulas hire a full-time health and safety director with “authority and responsibility to develop, implement, monitor and enforce the requirements of the company’s safety and health program.” It also requires extensive training for new and existing employees annually as well as incorporating safety and health performance measures as part of review criteria for store and department managers.38

Three elements of the Munro and DeMoulas enterprise-wide agreements are notable and relevant to enforcing workplace laws in response to fissured workplace conditions. First, the enterprise-wide agreements are systemic, creating mechanisms to reduce hazards across the entire organization, not just where hazards are directly observed. Second, the agreements are proactive in nature, not only remedying the immediate problem but creating systems that can detect and act upon new hazards before they result in problems.

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