Recently, I had a conversation with Gary Smith, Executive Director of the Independent Small Business Association for the state of Washington. Gary explained, "Cal OSHA has over 10,000 regulations for business in California. The small businessman's job is to figure out which of those regulations apply to him and how to comply."
Over 10,000 regulations! Several elements of this herculean effort are completely impractical. First, you must be able to find all of the regulations. This in itself is not the easiest task. Google Cal OSHA. In the first couple of sites listed is a ca.gov option (California's official website). After choosing it you will be taken to a page that explains about the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH).
Nowhere on that page is an option for a list of regulations. There are opportunities to bring in consultants, there are links to other agencies, there are videos, instructions on your rights and lots of other possibilities. But there is not a list of regulations.
I used the search method on the top of the page and entered "Cal OSHA regulations". The response was 5370 listings. None of the listings on the first few pages consisted of a list of regulations. The top result even gives tips for searching. The problem is that you must already know what you are searching for.
Secondly, you must have the man power to be able to go through he pages and pages of regulations once you discover where they are. Hours must be spent just on the research, but the real time comes in reading the mammoth amount of paperwork.
Thirdly, in the reading you must be able to understand both the technical aspects of the regulations and the legalese involved. Paying the regular guy off of the streets to come in at somewhat of an affordable rate to accomplish this task, even with very specific instructions, is not an option. A lawyer with expertise in the arena of occupational safety is required.
The fourth element is in deciding which of all of these regulations apply to your circumstance. These decisions are sometimes clear but often completely subjective. One inspector may decide that the regulations are not applicable and the next might slam you for not complying.
This conversation was only about Cal OSHA. There are also the federal OSHA requirements to consider. There are then 58 other agencies with which to start the process over again.
My question regards where the obligation ought to lie. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. We are told that over and over, but how are we to keep up and understand what the law is. The lawyers aren't even sure about that.
Proposals like the plain English initiative are thrown out as panaceas for this dilemma. If it were effective only step 3 would be eliminated and few think that it would actually be effective.
If Gary Smith is correct and there are over 10,000 regulations to go through just for Cal OSHA, it is an impossible situation. If he exaggerated and there are less than 10,000, then the other agencies on federal, state and local levels make up the difference.
Wonderland was confusing and not particularly wonderful for Alice. She exclaimed that, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"
In contract law, any ambiguity is construed against the author of the contract. In regulatory law, the nonsense is written by the same authorities that determine compliance and punishment for not doing so.
Alice's wish came true in the world of small business regulations and it isn't wonderful for us either. Off with our heads!
About the Author:
Karen Dennison is helping small business comply with state and federal regulations. For you free regulations checklist, visit
http://www.icancomply.com
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Date Published :
Dec 18 2008