SEIU Petitions Federal Government to Take Over Workplace Safety Oversight in South Carolina

The union accuses state regulators of inadequate enforcement, citing low inspection rates and penalties for safety violations that fall below national averages.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest labor organizations in the U.S., has petitioned the federal government to take over workplace safety oversight in South Carolina, accusing state regulators of failing to protect service employees.
South Carolina is one of 22 states allowed to enforce occupational safety in most private businesses, provided the programs are 'at least as effective' as their federal counterpart. SEIU argues that this is not the case in South Carolina due to a subpar enforcement program and a 'skeletal inspection force'.
SEIU's filing to the U.S. Labor Department states that South Carolina does not carry out enough inspections. The state ran fewer inspections than expected by federal regulators in four of the five years from 2017-2022, with the totals fitting for a state economy of its size falling 50% below federal expectations in 2018.
In 2022, South Carolina conducted 287 inspections, or about 1.9 for every 1,000 establishments — a rate the SEIU says is less than one-third the rate in the surrounding states of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as the national average.
SEIU also states that serious safety violations recently carried weaker sanctions in South Carolina than required. The state's average penalty of $2,019 for all private sector employers in fiscal year 2022 fell below the national average of $3,259.