The Department of Labor says it plans to strengthen its enforcement actions against employers who flout the nation's safety and health regulations. In a statement issued by the Department of Labor, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said the new enforcement policy was aimed at employers who continually disregard their obligations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Enhanced Enforcement Policy will focus on those employers who have received "high gravity" citations. Those citations are issued when an employer's violations are considered to be at the highest level of severity.

OSHA says the policy will strengthen enforcement in five areas: follow-up inspections; programmed inspections; public awareness; settlements; and federal court enforcement. This initiative will affect businesses that received OSHA citations with the highest severity of willful violations, multiple serious violations, repeat violations at the originating establishment, failure-toabate notices, or a serious or willful violation associated with a fatality.