1. Adapted from Legal Liability: A Guide for Safety & Loss Prevention Professionals by Thomas Schneid & Michael Schumann and from Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook fro ABS Consulting, Government Institutes

2.  Roles & conflicts  Criminal sanctions  Protecting yourself with paperwork  Protective theories  Class exercise – Personal Risk Assessment

3.  Decisions affect health, safety & personal welfare  Conflicting duties ◦ Management  Cost concerns ◦ Employee welfare  Unions  Expanding workload  Mistakes = professional & personal problems

4.  Increase in use by OSHA ◦ DOJ represents OSHA ◦ Willful violations – plain indifference, not intentional disregard ◦ Advanced notice of inspections ◦ Knowingly false statements, representations or certifications  State criminal codes ◦ Must be approved by OSHA  Or have general applicability (traffic & fire codes)  Environmental statutes ◦ No death requirement ◦ Knowing or negligent conduct ◦ EPA and OSHA MOU for joint inspections, referrals and information exchange

5.  For when disaster strikes and the bombs start falling  Document details of every action ◦ Management not committed to safety ◦ Compliance is not possible  Include correspondence, email, documentation of phone calls, minutes of meetings, denial of funding, etc.  Aids with credibility and memory ◦ “Past recollection refreshed”  Hindsight is 20/20

6.  3 for civil liability ◦ Indemnification  Protection by company for actions within scope of employment  Company pays legal fees, penalties and damages ◦ Insurance  Creates ‘deep pockets’  Not available for criminal protection or willful actions  Can be very expensive ◦ Minimal assets = “Can’t get blood from a turnip”  Puts what you do have at risk  1 for criminal liability ◦ Compliance

8.  “there is no substitute for a safety and health program that is in compliance with the OSHA standards”, Legal Liability, p. 194