Nine employers in Illinois and a single Indiana Employer cited for COVID violations thus far.
In the aftermath of a Congressional demand to the Department of Labor and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding better protections for American workers against the Coronavirus, OSHA has issued several news releases detailing its oversight of workplace safety against COVID-19.
To read the full text of the letter sent by both Illinois Senators as well as almost two dozen other members of the Senate voicing concerns over the apparent lack of employee COVID protections, read our earlier discussion, “Coronavirus Pandemic: Senators Challenge OSHA’s Effectiveness in Making Sure Businesses Are Protecting Workers Against COVID-19 .”
Since the Congressional letter was sent, there have been news releases reporting on OSHA inspections and resulting penalties issued for discovered regulatory violations of workplace safety standards regarding the Coronavirus.
OSHA Citations: COVID-19 Violations by Employers in Indiana and Illinois
These releases include an OSHA update that nationally almost $2.5 Million in fines had been assessed by the agency involving 179 inspections as of November 6, 2020. See, “U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA Announces $2,496,768 In Coronavirus Violations.”
This included three citations against employers in Illinois:
- Forty Six Twenty One Corp. Inc. (Chicago);
- Little Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center LLC (Chicago); and
- City View Multicare Center LLC (Cicero).
An earlier OSHA release, dated October 30, 2020, reported on a total of inspections culminating in $2,025,431.00 in fines at that juncture. See, “U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA Announces $2,025,431 In Coronavirus Violations.”
This included citations against the following employers in Illinois:
- Mission Care of Illinois LLC (Abbott EMS) (Belleville);
- Concerto Renal Services LLC (Chicago); and
- Alden Terrace McHenry (McHenry).
A complete listing of all OSHA Coronavirus-Related Citations is provided online and periodically updated by the agency. Additional employers from the State of Illinois that failed OSHA COVID-19 inspections are:
- Presence Chicago Hospitals Network dba Amita Health Saint Joseph Hospital (Chicago);
- Greystone Healthcare Management Corp. (Northbrook); and
- Alden-Valley Ridge Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, Inc. (Bloomingdale).
As of October 29, 2020, only one employer in the State of Indiana has been shown to have been found in violation of safety regulations. It was not assessed any fine/penalty:
- Department of Veteran Affairs (Indianapolis).
OSHA Publishes List of the Most Common COVID Safety Violations by Employers
This week, OSHA released a list of the most common safety standards that its inspections have found to be violated by employers across the country. From OSHA, the “requirements that employers have most frequently failed to follow” are (quoting from the agency):
- Provide a medical evaluation before a worker is fit-tested or uses a respirator.
- Perform an appropriate fit test for workers using tight fitting respirators.
- Assess the workplace to determine if COVID-19 hazards are present, or likely to be present, which will require the use of a respirator and/or other personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Establish, implement, and update a written respiratory protection program with required worksite-specific procedures.
- Provide an appropriate respirator and/or other PPE to each employee when necessary to protect the health of the employees (ensuring the respirator and/or PPE used is the correct type and size).
- Train workers to safely use respirators and/or other PPE in the workplace, and retrain workers about changes in the workplace that might make previous training obsolete.
- Store respirators and other PPE properly in a way to protect them from damage, contamination, and, where applicable, deformation of the facepiece and exhalation valve.
- For any fatality that occurs within 30 days of a work-related incident, report the fatality to OSHA within eight hours of finding out about it.
- Keep required records of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illness.
How Safe From COVID Exposure Are Employees in Indiana and Illinois?
OSHA has stated that many of its Coronavirus inspections have been because of (1) complaints, (2) referrals and (3) fatalities, with the agency pointing out three specific industries:
- hospitals and healthcare;
- nursing homes and long-term care facilities; and
- meat processing plants.
The recommendations provided above by OSHA are the specific result of failed inspections within these two industries: meat processing plants and health care facilities.
OSHA also has provided a six-page table that itemizes the specific federal regulations that have been most commonly violated, as well as corresponding resources for employers to use in better protecting workers on the job. Among them: 1910.134 (Respiratory Protection) and 1910.132 (Personal Protective Equipment).
For those who work in either of these two industries in Indiana and Illinois, the danger appears to be high that there may be exposure to COVID-19 while on the job.
It is paramount that all employees in the health care industry as well as workers in meat processing plants in either Indiana or Illinois be given appropriate respiratory protection and personal protective equipment.
From OSHA’s latest reports, employees in these sectors are both facing the danger of becoming ill with the Coronavirus after being exposed to COVID-19 while on the job.
Meanwhile, the concerns voiced by the Senators in their correspondence to OSHA remain unaddressed.
A review of the number of inspections nationally, as well as the amount of the fines imposed, continues to feed worries that companies are not facing any real incentives to meet their duties of care to workers, especially when implementing COVID safety standards may mean additional expenses and lower profits.
Accordingly, every worker in our part of the country should remain concerned and vigilant about COVID-19 protections at the workplace. It does not appear that government oversight is sufficient to ensure employees are being protected on the job from exposure to the Coronavirus, regardless of the industry involved.
For more on the duty of employers to protect against COVID-19, read:
- Employers’ Duty of Care When Worker Discovered to Have COVID-19: Revised CDC Close Contact Definition
- Coronavirus: Employer Liability for Worker’s Family Injuries Caused by COVID-19 Exposure
- COVID Whistleblowers: When Employers Recklessly Fail to Protect Against Coronavirus Exposure
- Coronavirus: COVID Violations, OSHA Inspections, and Employer Liability Claims in Indiana and Illinois
- Coronavirus on the Job: Proving Employee Exposure Claims Against Employer for COVID-19 Injury.
If you or a loved one has become ill with COVID-19 in Indiana or Illinois, particularly if you work in the meat processing industry or provide health care in hospitals, clinics, or nursing home facilities, then you may have legal claims against an employer for failure to meet a legal duty of care. Please be careful out there!
