Note: the following was provided by Tim Freeman, president, Printing Industries Alliance (PIA), representing graphic communications companies in New York, northern New Jersey, and northwestern Pennsylvania.

The Printing Industries Alliance office has heard from members across our region about visits from their local OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) offices. Much has been written lately about increased OSHA inspection rates and higher fines.

Overall, the rate of general industry inspections has remained fairly steady and on a probability basis, your chances of being inspected are relatively low. That being said, there are elements present in our industry that make printing firms more likely to be inspected. Fines resulting from citations are higher and more difficult to negotiate down. Most important, the time to get your OSHA compliance program organized is not when the inspector is in your lobby.

The elements in play within our industry are the opportunities for amputation/crushing injuries and the presence of paper dust and spray powder in our manufacturing areas. OSHA has what are termed National Emphasis Programs for amputations and combustible dust. This means that OSHA is going to look at companies and industries where these types of factors are present. When they visit, they will be looking at your entire program, but most critically at these issues.

With regard to fines, in late 2010, OSHA adapted changes to the way it discounted fines for such factors as company history, size, good faith, etc. In a nutshell, it has become much more difficult to obtain meaningful fine reductions, resulting in higher costs for companies running afoul of these regulations. Here at PIA, we have witnessed these higher fines in talking to members who have been inspected over the last several years.

The following is a list of the most often cited OSHA standards in our industry (SIC 2752, all 50 states) from October 2010 to September 2011, along with total current* penalties in each category:

*Fines are current rather than initial amounts. Initial amounts are often negotiated down.

There are 30 other standards listed, with anywhere from one to eight citations issued. The full list is available from PIA upon request.

Compliance with these standards can be tricky and overwhelming if you need to scramble and get a number of programs in place in a short time period.

Printing Industries Alliance can help. Contact Tim Freeman at (800) 777-4742 for a free copy of our publication, “OSHA Primer.” This industry-specific publication will walk you through compliance requirements for all major standards impacting our industry.

As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”  Take the necessary steps now and avoid potentially thousands of dollars in fines.