Question: Why did OSHA change the SHARP size policy in November 2014?

Answer:

OSHA is always looking for ways to ensure that compliance assistance resources are used effectively as possible to help small businesses. When it came to OSHA's attention that subsidiaries of large, multi-national corporations, some with tens or hundreds of thousands of employees, were participating in SHARP, OSHA concluded that additional requirements were needed to ensure that SHARP resources would be more effectively targeted to the small employers that really needed them. The subsidiaries of larger employers likely had the economic means to provide safety and health assistance for their subsidiaries without Federal Assistance and therefore would be better served by participating in the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), which is designed to recognize larger companies.