W美国劳工部试图对犯罪行为施加惩罚，据信与今年早些时候在北卡罗来纳州的焊工何塞·阿曼多·马奎达·梅吉亚（Jose Armando Maqueda Mejia）死亡有关，罚款的最大部分为13,653美元，是严重侵犯的最高罚款。它使对雇主PCL民用建设者的拟议罚款达到23,000美元。

But if the U.S. Senate passes the Build Back Better bill approved by the House in its current form, a future serious safety violation could carry a monetary penalty of up to $70,000—more than five times as much as the current limit, and higher after future adjustments for inflation. That also is more than the entire penalty sought in the welder’s fatal accident, which happened when the 42-year-old was cutting beams during demolition of the Bonner Bridge and a span section collapsed.

像2017年的纽约土壤潮和隔离墙崩溃一样，经常提出大罚款。
Photo: OSHA Review Commission Document

Dramatically higher safety penalties would provide the Biden administration a potent tool in its anticipated campaign against workplace safety and labor law violations. While the average U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration construction fine has risen steadily since 2013 to $2,300, boosted partly by annual adjustments for inflation, some believe penalty increases for certain violations are long overdue—and advocates for contractors are worried.

Supporters of higher penalties say the increases would help incentivize employers to work safely by better aligning the financial penalty with what’s called the value of a statistical life (VSL), or what society is willing to pay to save a single life. Federal agencies have generally placed that at around $10 million. In addition to resetting the serious violation fine cap at 10 times its current $7,000 level—with the inflation adjusted amount at $13,653—Build Back Better would reset other fines.

For willful violations, where the cap of $70,000 has been inflation adjusted to $136,653, the new limit would be reset at $700,000. The proposed changes also add a floor of $50,000 under any willful or repeated violation.

The current caps on penalties fall short of the VSL when it comes to violations that lead to a death, some say. OSHA’s own analysis of the total cost of regulations is “a mismatch” with “the most egregious” violations, say Vanderbilt University Law School Professor W. Kip Viscusi and graduate student Robert J. Cramer在草稿中released in October.

However, only a limited number of penalties will reach any newly established higher caps—there is great variety in OSHA’s proposed penalty amounts each year for various violations. Raising some caps will allow “OSHA officials to formulate more consequential enforcement,” Viscusi and Cramer write.

Since OSHA is a small agency that performs a limited number of inspections, “the threat of larger economic penalties for non-compliance may compel more employers to implement safety and health programs that address hazards,” says Chris Trahan Cain, executive director of CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training.

在Build Back Better Better Bill的当前版本中，对所有行业的更高安全和违反工资罚款都被指望为联邦财政部增加30亿美元。作为最危险的就业部门之一，建筑最新的拟议OSHA罚款在2019年总计1.394亿美元，并根据通货膨胀进行了调整。

民主党人统一寻求更严格的安全执法。

众议院教育和劳工委员会主席鲍比·斯科特（Bobby Scott）（D-VA。）说，改变了Build Back的行为，表示需要更新以作为适当的威慑力量。拜登（Biden）最近确认在美国劳工部的OSHA助理秘书道格拉斯·帕克（Douglas Parker）在加利福尼亚州健康与安全机构卡洛萨（Calosha）负责人时以对安全违规者的积极行动而闻名。特朗普政府从未填补这一职位。

The Associated Builders & Contractors says the possible increased fines are alarming.

Along with a potential vaccine mandate for bigger businesses, “These harmful penalties would devastate businesses of any size,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of legislative and political affairs, in a statement. “Throwing a tenfold increase in OSHA fines at employers and employees facing substantial economic headwinds, a lingering pandemic, supply chains in disarray and a severe workforce shortage would drive up uncertainty for workers and crush our economic recovery.”

哪些更大的罚款可能无法解决

Labor Dept. records show that PCL Civil Constructors and OSHA have reached an informal settlement of the Bonner Bridge penalties, but the agency does not often issue the heftiest fines over a specific accident to large contractors. A review of OSHA’s recent construction penalties shows that more often, the agency has leveled its six-figure fines at a specialty contractor or multi-unit homebuilder that it accuses of an egregious violation.

One example is the $280,000 penalty against New Jersey residential contractor Onekey LLC over倒塌的土壤潮和砌块墙OSHA Records说，该公司杀死了纽约州Poughkeepsie的一名工人。

Another common citation is directed against a repeat violator that OSHA says failed to abate hazards after a prior citation. The agency cited Janiec Roofing, a Lodi, N.J.-based company, with a new penalty for alleged repeat violations of fall protection rules, for a total of $600,000. Records show the firm, which could not be reached, is contesting part of the citation.

雇主对正义的担忧是否应该比对政府执法的预期厌恶更为厌恶？

代表雇主的律师事务所Ogletree Deakins的律师Phillip B. Russell说，随着时间的推移，逐渐增加处罚是最好的。他说，这么快地提高处罚“将对中小型企业绝对毁灭性。”“它将剥夺公司花钱并进行[安全]更改的能力。”其他雇主律师说，OSHA对即使是努力遵循最佳做法或雇员违反导致事故的安全规则的公司也处罚。

The tricky part is in striking a balance between punishing fines and rewards for diligent safety practices. “Organizations may invest their money and time in ensuring regulatory compliance, but perhaps at the expense of doing more specific continual improvement activities that could reduce safety risk even more, says Jan Wachter, a professor of safety science at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

According to Wachter, “Positively incentivizing optimal organizational safety behavior—rather than being punished for non-optimal safety behavior—is probably better to use in the long run.” The result, he adds, could be that “poor performing companies may become safer, but higher penalties won’t necessarily engender good companies to perform even better.”