House Small Business Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) launched a bipartisan effort on Thursday to delay random, surprise inspections of dairy farms in New York scheduled to begin in 2014.
Hanna and six members of Congress wrote a letter to OSHA Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels requesting that the agency delay the New York Dairy Local Emphasis Program. The legislators noted that small dairies could face fines because they don’t have access to the capital and workforce to make immediate improvements.
“Having run a business for 30 years and having spent many summers growing up on a Herkimer County dairy farm, two things are very clear to me,” Hanna said. “The first is that no one cares more about a safe workplace more than farmers and business owners themselves. The other is that because OSHA fines immediately, these inspections can have a severe impact on small businesses operating on tight margins.”
The legislators also requested that OSHA clarify the definition of “temporary farm worker” under the LEP program so that dairy farmers will know if they are subject to an inspection.
“OSHA should agree to allow New York dairy farmers more time to educate themselves and prepare for inspections,” Hanna said. “We all share the goal of operating farms as safely as possible; let’s simply make sure this program is actually about improving safety and less about collecting fines from hardworking farmers to send to Washington.”