Cal/OSHA's mission is to enforce compliance with safety regulations in California workplaces.
Enforcement includes investigation of incidents and complaints, issuance of citations and prosecution of employers. Citations are formal allegations of workplace safety violations and carry heavy penalties. Allowing citations to become final may result in additional consequences to employers. If you have received a Cal/OSHA citation, you must act without delay to preserve your rights.
The lawyers of The Prince Firm have represented hundreds of employers from Fortune 500 companies to single employee shops who are dealing with Cal/OSHA inspections and citations. They understand that Cal/OSHA is unique in many ways and are often retained by national firms, general counsel and other law firms to represent them and their clients in navigating the challenges posed by the increasingly aggressive Cal/OSHA enforcement policies and regulations.
We know that your business, big or small, is nothing more than the employees who work there, and that the safety of your workers is crucial to you, your business and your collective success. We also know that compliance with safety regulations can be confusing, difficult, expensive and sometimes impossible. Even the best efforts to comply can be subject to disagreement by a Cal/OSHA inspector.
Delay, and the absence of a challenge to the citation, may lead to severe consequences. If an appeal of the citation is not timely filed, the citation will become final. A citation that goes unchallenged may affect your ability to do business in many ways. The first and most obvious is that penalties affect profitability. For a citation classified as serious, penalties start at a standard $18,000 and may be as high as $25,000.
Another citation for the same or similar violation within five years can result in a citation classified as Repeat, with penalties multiplied by two for a first repeat and multiplied by ten for a third repeat. If Cal/OSHA believes the citation should be classified as Willful, the standard penalty will be multiplied by five, “not to exceed” $142,692. Insurance coverage excludes payment of penalties, so citations that become final can result in a significant expense that is not covered.
In the case of a death or catastrophic accident, Cal/OSHA will refer the matter to the Department of Industrial Relations’ in-house criminal investigation unit (Bureau of Investigation), or to local law enforcement. Cross-referrals to the EPA, local air quality management agencies, the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, and other agencies are now a routine part of the Cal/OSHA response to an accident or complaint.
Looking forward, a final citation can threaten your ability to qualify for new contracts. All citations are publicly listed on Fed/OSHA’s website. Because citation information is public record, findings of workplace safety violations implied by final citations may affect your qualification to contract for new work. As part of Request for Proposals and because of recent "multi-employer worksite" liability rules, owners and general contractors commonly require disclosure of a company's Cal/OSHA workplace safety inspection and violation history during the bidding and pre-qualification process. Disclosure of an unchallenged final citation may negatively impact the decision of an owner or general contractor to contract with your business, or even result in the outright disqualification of your business from the RFP process.
The Prince Firm understands the ramifications of a Cal/OSHA citation and partners with its clients to fully investigate allegations, vigorously represent them in appeal of citations and to implement plans to best protect their client’s interests in all respects.
Our experience has given us the wisdom to know that sometimes Cal/OSHA inspectors can misunderstand the evidence or the facts of what actually happened or misunderstand what the law is and whether the law is properly applied in a given case. We also know that sometimes Cal/OSHA does not have enough evidence to bring a case and that sometimes Cal/OSHA inspectors abandon their public office and take cases forward that should not have been prosecuted. All of these situations result in injustice unless you have experienced legal counsel to protect you.
We are here for you. Contact The Prince Firm now to discuss your case.