Indiana OSHA failed its workers during crisis: The results were deadly

Indianapolis Star
October 19, 2022

As COVID-19 swept across Indiana, thousands of workers in crowded factories, retail stores and nursing homes were ringing alarm bells about unsafe conditions. But the state agency “dedicated to ensuring Hoosier workplace safety and health” repeatedly failed them.

An IndyStar investigation found the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s pattern of inaction — particularly before vaccines were widely available — placed workers in an impossible position: Continue working and endanger their lives, or stay home and risk their livelihoods. ... Thousands became sick. Many lost their jobs. Some died. ... The investigation found other states and the federal government, which oversees worker safety in about two dozen states without standalone programs, conducted more inspections and adopted more safety rules to protect workers.

In Indiana, however, the pandemic exposed and exacerbated long-standing problems within the small state watchdog agency, including inadequate staffing and funding, limits imposed by lawmakers on what IOSHA can do, and the agency's business-friendly approach to enforcement.

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IndyStar’s investigation found:
• IOSHA conducted inspections on fewer than 50 of the more than 6,000 COVID complaints it received.
• When IOSHA did conduct inspections, many done remotely, it sometimes missed key information and regularly agreed with the companies’ version of events after interviewing employees handpicked by management.
• IOSHA issued few citations. Fines were almost always reduced drastically, even for serious violations.
• Major RV and vehicle manufacturers in Elkhart County, where workers said the pandemic accelerated an already backbreaking pace, drew some of the highest numbers of complaints. None were inspected.
• Since 1986, the number of inspectors at IOSHA has dwindled by half — from 81 to 40 in June — even as federal audits repeatedly cited the agency's inadequate staffing.
• State funding for the agency has remained stagnant for more than a decade. Today, Indiana spends less per worker, on average, for worker safety enforcement than other similar Midwestern states.

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