Mr. Crisanti,

In response to the proposed regulation to amend the administrative regulation for the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Program; State and Local Government Penalties, I am in favor of this amendment.  My reasoning stems from the simplicity of the amendment to include penalties on only infractions that have been repeated or are considered "high gravity".  State and local governments should be taking appropriate precautions to prevent the occurrence of these infractions.  Unfortunately, one cannot depend on an agreement of correction without some stipulation attached to it.  State and local governments are held to the same principles as private organizations.  In some cases, they should be held to higher principles due to their relationship with the public that they serve.  In any case, all organizations should be held accountable for not adhering to safety regulations and protocols.  Repeated offenses must be rectified and serious infractions dealt with in an appropriate manner.  If that means fines have to be imposed, than do what must be done to ensure compliance.  My only recommendation would be to create a separate fund that these funds are placed into so that the money can be appropriated to help disadvantaged workers who cannot afford the medical bills associated with a "high gravity" injury.  If they were injured as a result of the state or local government failing to adequately secure a safe working environment, then they should not have to bear the brunt of the expenses.

Thank you for your time and consideration of my recommendation.

Mr Cristiani,

I oppose this proposal on the following grounds noted in the DPB Economic Impact Analysis.

I must first state, I applaud any effort to ensure the safety of the human workforce. As a veteran of high-risk work environments, I appreciate the scale of responsibility public managers must assume for the welfare of their employees and of those that author and enforce safety regulations. The language of the proposed rule appears to originate from good intentions (and I have no doubt it does). But I fear the only penalties that would be felt are with those small agencies and municipalities who can ill-afford pre-determined monetary penalties in lieu of penalties in the form of percentages relative to a portion of a select budget of the violator.

I would also send caution of the culture that may be created from this policy. The adage “what gets inspected, gets done” may create a culture whereby specific violations are ignored in favor of those identified.

My final concern is that agency departments with large, geographically separated departments (i.e. VDOT, public universities, etc) would be penalized for remote violations occurring outside their department. And how might municipalities respond after large penalties are assessed? Are citizens expected to pay more taxes because of a public managers negligence? Are there laws that would prevent increased fees and taxes after such penalties?

Thank you for your time and service.