Federal Justice, Labor Officials to Address Workplace Safety Violations

Last month, the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Labor (DOL) announced a new joint initiative to "address environmental and worker safety violations." On the worker safety side, the joint initiative will cover the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The joint effort is meant to "increase the frequency and effectiveness of criminal prosecutions of worker endangerment violations" with the intended result "to enhance penalties and increase deterrence [of crimes and unsafe behavior]".