Minimizing OSHA Personal Liability Issues

Corporate officers and directors often express concern about potential personal liability for employee health and safety matters. The federal statutory regime that regulates employers and employees with respect to workplace safety is the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 (the "Act"). The Act is administered by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration ("OSHA") of the U.S. Department of Labor. In general, the corporation which employs workers, not an individual who owns or works for the corporation, is liable for penalties under the Act. There is no statutory basis to extend liability under the Act to individual supervisors, officers or directors—only to the actual "employers" of the workers. However, OSHA occasionally has sought to "pierce the corporate veil" to impose individual liability for OSHA penalties on owners, directors, officers, and managers of corporate employers in very egregious situations. OSHA generally makes such efforts when