Is OSHA going to relax enforcement of its various standards due to the massive disruption associated with Hurricane Katrina?
OSHA cannot tell employers to ignore or violate OSHA and consensus Standards, even in the face of such disruption. But, in the case of some other recent hurricanes, OSHA mobilized its Compliance Officers and Industrial Hygienists to provide “compliance assistance” during the period of initial clean up, and did not meaningfully focus on issuing citations. At present, OSHA is unable to effectively mobilize Compliance Officers in the affected region because of the difficulty in obtaining housing, gasoline, and other logistical support.
