Penalties, Safety and the Reptile Brain

Accidents and injuries do not have to occur for Cal-OSHA to levy citations and fines to employers.

Per Title 8 § 334 (Classification of Violations and Definitions), a “serious violation” exists in a place of employment if the division (Cal-OSHA) demonstrates that there is a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm could result from the actual hazard created by the violation.

Further, per Title 8 § 336 (Assessment of Civil Penalties), any employer who violates any occupational safety and health standard, order, or special order, and such violation is determined to be a Serious violation (as provided in section 334(c)(1) of this article) shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for each such violation. Because of the extreme gravity of a Serious violation an initial base penalty of $18,000 shall be assessed.

Staying proactive with your safety efforts is the best strategy to mitigate the potential for a Cal-OSHA inspection and subsequent civil penalty.

Too often, employers address safety issues in response to a negative event (reactive). The accident has happened and now the employer is faced with inspections, citations as well as the in-direct and direct costs of the injury.

However, being proactive with safety is part of our human makeup. Millions of years of evolution has expanded our neocortex all the while storing logic that defines safe and unsafe behaviors. This part of our brain known as the Reptile Brain, understands three behaviors: fight, freeze or flight. This well-seasoned professional reptile is equipped with lighting fast decision making on whether a situation is safe or unsafe.

Since our subconscious reptile brains are continuously assessing the safety of our surroundings remaining pro-active with evaluating fight or flight exposures, why don’t we consciously apply this hard-wired design to our organization’s safety program?

As employers, we can leverage this DNA coding and apply it strategically to our risk mitigation strategy by measuring, reducing, controlling and eliminating (or transferring) the risk. The benefit of our evolved brains now allows us to do this consciously and with mindful strategies.

Now, where do you start?

Conduct a risk assessment of your organization. Walk your jobsite or facility and make a list of hazards and processes that are both safe and unsafe. What say your reptile brain?

Once you have compiled your list, categorize the unsafe hazards from high to low risk. Then, prioritize which high-risk exposures need to be addressed first. From there, begin to formulate a strategy on mitigating each hazard and a training program that helps your organization’s reptile brain to relax, ultimately reducing the potential for injury and civil penalties.  

Risk assessment and hazard identification should be part of every manager’s responsibility to the organization. Managers, and supervisors, understand the operations best and are able to affect change for the better, especially when it comes to safety. Cal-OSHA mandates that this process be in place (IIPP element # 3) and who better than your existing managers to implement the process.

Hold you managers accountable by grading the quality of the hazard identification or risk assessment process and have them include a review of safety activities in your management meetings. You already discuss production and quality in your meetings - include safety as that third pillar of excellence.

Additionally, pro-active safety efforts can minimize the negative events that take your managers away from productive and profit-making endeavors. Should a “serious” incident occur, operating under “Good Faith” (per Title 8 § 336) can help to reduce potential penalties. 

For more information on the different civil penalties, click here.

Click here for more information on Cal-OSHA’s reporting requirements and new definitions of “Serious Exposure” and Serious Injury & Illness” (Assembly Bill 1804 & 1805).