Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources
Division Will Work with the Department of Labor and U.S. Attorneys for Broader
Look at Environmental and Workplace Safety Crimes
In an effort to prevent and deter crimes that put the
lives and the health of workers at risk, the Departments of Justice and Labor
announced today a plan to more effectively prosecute such crimes. Under
the new plan, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources
Division and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will work with the Department of
Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and
Health Administration (MSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to investigate
and prosecute worker endangerment violations.
“On an average day in America, 13 workers die on the
job, thousands are injured and 150 succumb to diseases they obtained from
exposure to carcinogens and other toxic and hazardous substances while they worked,”
said Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates. “Given the troubling
statistics on workplace deaths and injuries, the Department of Justice is
redoubling its efforts to hold accountable those who unlawfully jeopardize
workers’ health and safety.”
“Safety and security in the workplace are a shared
commitment. Workplace injuries and illnesses cause an enormous amount of
physical, financial and emotional hardship for workers and their families and
underscore the urgent need for employers to provide a safe workplace for their
employees,” said Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Chris Lu. “Today’s
announcement demonstrates a renewed commitment by both the Department of Labor
and the Department of Justice to utilize criminal prosecution as an enforcement
tool to protect the health and safety of workers.”
Starting last year, the Departments of Justice and
Labor began meetings to explore a joint effort to increase the frequency and
effectiveness of criminal prosecutions of worker endangerment violations.
This culminated in a decision to consolidate the authorities to pursue
worker safety statutes within the Department of Justice’s Environment and
Natural Resource Division’s Environmental Crimes Section. In a memo sent
today to all 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country, Deputy Attorney General
Yates urged federal prosecutors to work with the Environmental Crimes Section
in pursuing worker endangerment violations. The worker safety statutes
generally provide for only misdemeanor penalties. However, prosecutors
have now been encouraged to consider utilizing Title 18 and environmental
offenses, which often occur in conjunction with worker safety crimes, to
enhance penalties and increase deterrence. Statutes included in this plan
are the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), the Migrant and Seasonal
Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) and the Mine Safety and Health Act
(MINE Act).
“We have seen that employers who are willing to cut
corners on worker safety laws to maximize production and profit, will also turn
a blind eye to environmental laws,” said Assistant Attorney General John C.
Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“Working with our partners in the Department of Labor and law
enforcement, we will remove the profit from these crimes by vigorously
prosecuting employers who break safety and environmental laws at the expense of
American workers.”
“Every worker has the right to come home safely.
While most employers try to do the right thing, we know that strong
sanctions are the best tool to ensure that low road employers comply with the
law and protect workers lives,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational
Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “More frequent and effective
prosecution of these crimes will send a strong message to those employers who
fail to provide a safe workplace for their employees. We look forward to
working with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to enforce these
life-saving rules when employers violate workplace safety, workers’ health and
environmental regulations.”
In addition to prosecuting environmental crimes, the
Environment and Natural Resources Division has also been strengthening its
efforts to pursue civil cases that involve worker safety violations under
statutes such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act. Violations of a number
of provisions under these statutes can have a direct impact on workers tasked
with handling dangerous chemicals and other materials, cleaning up spills and
responding to hazardous releases.
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