OSHA Safety Violations No Bar – to Government Contracts, Says Gao

SAN FRANCISCO - Some 261 companies charged with OSHA violations, most of them considered serious, won $38 billion in federal contracts in 1994, according to the General Accounting Office. The GAO report, prepared for Sen. Paul Simon, was released on Labor Day. Simon and Sen. Edward Kennedy are working on legislation that would deny federal contracts to companies with a record of disregarding health and safety regulations.Many of the employers OSHA cited were defense contractors. Some were penalized at