Most U.S. firms hit with COVID-19 safety fines aren't paying up--Reuters

Exclusive: Most U.S. firms hit with COVID-19 safety fines aren't paying up U.S. workplace safety regulators have announced more than $4 million in penalties on more than 300 employers they say put workers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris Kirkham U.S.

(Reuters) - U.S. workplace safety regulators have announced more than $4 million in penalties on more than 300 employers they say put workers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But about two-thirds of these employers aren’t paying up.

Only 108 companies had paid a total of about $897,000 in fines as of last week to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since the pandemic hit the United States last year.

Those who haven’t paid include meatpacking giants Smithfield Foods Inc and JBS USA - which had outbreaks infecting thousands of workers - as well as packaged foods company Conagra Brands Inc. All three firms have appealed the citations and say they are without merit.

More than half of employers cited for COVID-19 safety problems by federal OSHA authorities have appealed, according to a Reuters analysis of OSHA enforcement data. That compares to 8% of fined companies that appealed in the five years before the pandemic, according to OSHA data. During the appeals - which can drag on for years - companies don’t have to pay fines and aren’t required to fix problems identified by OSHA inspectors.

The payment delays follow the agency's larger failure to hold employers accountable for unsafe conditions during the pandemic, a Reuters special report revealed in January. Reuters identified dozens of workplaces where employees complained of slipshod pandemic safety around the time of outbreaks - and regulators never inspected the facilities or, in some cases, took months to do so. (For full story, click reut.rs/3jC2hQf )