Just the mention of OSHA can send shivers down the spine of a
contractor—but should it? I grew up seeing the cartoon drawing of the
OSHA cowboy. The cowboy sat atop a horse surrounded by a safety net,
complemented with other ridiculous safety items. Undoubtedly, OSHA takes
safety seriously and imposes heavy fines for violations. In the most
severe cases, incarceration is even possible. While the rogue,
overzealous compliance officer may exist, I find most OSHA officers to
be reasonable and workable.
Like most things in a big bureaucratic
country like ours, things get complicated and may be overly complex.
The rules get longer as more people are employed to rewrite them and
create programs to implement them. Then, the private sector sees an
opportunity. The opportunity is to make money from all the confusion and
complexity. This is when employers feel overwhelmed and threats come
from all sides. Most contractors have to sign contracts to secure work.
The lawyers are the ones who write these contracts and risk shifting is a
top priority. Why would we think the safety rules would be immune from
risk shifting?