WASHINGTON, DC — John Henshaw, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), announced that his agency’s enforcement efforts will increase in fiscal 2002, with more inspections targeting workplaces where injury and illness rates are the highest.

“OSHA needs to keep helping the majority of employers who want to do the right thing, but we also must aggressively pursue the ‘bad actors’,” Henshaw added.

OSHA will also put more enforcement focus on industries where non-English speaking workers are at greatest risk, such as construction. Henshaw noted that OSHA’s increased commitment to enforcement and added resources in targeted areas will enable the agency to better meet its goals: to strengthen worker protections.