Citation 69, Item 1
Officers of the United States Capitol Police (“USCP” or “the Department”) who were on duty at and around the U.S. Capitol to police the planned demonstration on January 6, 2021 lacked adequate protective equipment, contrary to section 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct), 29 U.S.C. § 654, which is applicable to the USCP by virtue of section 215(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), 2 U.S.C. § 1341(a).
Under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a), “Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers, shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact.”
While attempting to protect the Capitol and its occupants against the demonstration on January 6, 2021, which – according to official testimony and numerous reports – was expected to be a large demonstration with the potential for violence, USCP officers were exposed to hazards of process and environment, as well as chemical hazards, that are associated with such events. Nearly all of the categories of PPE listed in the standard would have been appropriate for use by officers on duty that day, yet the video footage, official testimony and reports, and officer accounts all reveal that most officers had little or no such PPE. Nor was adequate PPE staged nearby or otherwise made readily available to the officers; not only did the USCP not have sufficient PPE in its possession to equip all officers on duty that day, but even some of the available PPE was inaccessible, such as protective shields that were staged in a locked bus that could not be accessed by the officers who needed them, as reported by the USCP Inspector General (IG).
