On Aug. 23, 2019, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded over a million dollars in lost wages and punitive damages to two former employees of Lloyd Industries after a jury found the company and its owner fired them in retaliation for their participation in a … Continue Reading
Last year was the most destructive fire season in California’s history. Over 7,600 wildfires burned nearly two million acres. As a result, on July 18, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Occupational Safety Health Standards Board adopted an emergency regulation to protect workers from hazards associated with wildfire smoke. The regulation is now in … Continue Reading
House Democrats have set their sights on workplace violence in health care and social service industries. According to congressional findings, the health care and social service industries suffer the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence. Health care and social service workers made up 69 percent of all workplace violence injuries in 2017 and … Continue Reading
On Jan. 15, 2019, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a notice announcing another increase in the maximum penalty amounts for violations of federal Occupational Safety and Health standards and regulations. Under the new structure, the maximum penalty for “Willful” or “Repeated” violations is $132,598. Moreover, the maximum penalty for “Failure to Abate” violations is … Continue Reading
On Oct. 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a new Regional Emphasis Program (REP) to address hazards from exposure to fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) and agricultural anhydrous ammonia. The REP will be effective in the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. It is aimed at … Continue Reading
On Feb. 8, 2017, the California Supreme Court ruled that California law allows local prosecutors to pursue civil penalties against employers accused of workplace-safety violations under California’s Occupational Safety and Health Act (Cal OSHA). Solus Indus. Innovations, LLC v. Superior Court, No. S222314, 2018 WL 771814 (Cal. Feb. 8, 2018). This means that California employers … Continue Reading
On July 13, 2017, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals was tasked with deciding what constitutes a “machine” under OSHA’s lockout/tag-out (LOTO) standard (29 C.F.R. § 1910.147). Sec’y of Labor v. Action Elec. Co., 868 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2017). Specifically, the court had to decide under what circumstances different pieces of equipment are considered one … Continue Reading
On August 7, 2017, the California Department of Industrial Relations and the California Environmental Protection Agency amended the California’s Occupational Safety and Health Process Safety Management (PSM) standard to improve workplace safety and hazard prevention and management at the 15 refineries in California. The new standards are more stringent than federal OSHA’s process safety management … Continue Reading
On April 25, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rescinded a Feb. 21, 2013 letter from former Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard E. Fairfax to Mr. Steve Sallman (Fairfax Memo) that permitted workers at a worksite without a collective bargaining agreement to designate a person affiliated with a union or community organization to act … Continue Reading
On March 22, 2017, the Senate passed H.J. Resolution 83, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution (Resolution) that cuts the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) ability to cite an employer for failing to accurately record work-related injuries and illnesses from five years to six months.1 The resolution blocks and eliminates OSHA’s “Volks” final rule, also … Continue Reading
On Nov. 28, 2016, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas declined to grant a nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing subparagraphs 1904.35(b)(1)(i), (iii), and (iv) of the final rule issued by OSHA titled “Improve Tracking Workplace Injuries … Continue Reading
Employers’ Injury and Illness Information Becomes Public and Expanded Protections for Employees that Report Injuries and Illnesses On May 11, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its much anticipated final rule on recordkeeping and reporting. The final rule requires employers in certain industries to electronically submit information about workplace injuries and illnesses … Continue Reading
Hey employer, remember that workplace injury that you reported to OSHA a few months ago? You remember, right? The one where after you gave OSHA information about the workplace injury, like the root cause of the incident, and a few days later OSHA informed you that it considered the matter “closed.” Well guess what? OSHA … Continue Reading
Employers, do your safety policies and procedures require employees to immediately report their injuries? Do you discipline employees for failing to follow your safety policies and procedures? Most employers with safety programs in place probably answered “yes” to both of those questions and probably believe that both of those propositions are central to managing their … Continue Reading
The OSHA penalty structure, which hasn’t changed since 1990, is about to get a boost to catch up with current prices. The long-standing maximum penalty amounts of $7,000 for a serious violation and $70,000 for a willful violation may jump to as much as $12,400 and $124,000 respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, … Continue Reading
Written by Michael G. Murphy, P.E. Esq. Two changes to the OSHA Standard for Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses went into effect Jan. 1, 2015. First, businesses that were previously exempt from the recording requirements now must record occupational injuries and illnesses shortly after they happen. Second, OSHA has added to the type … Continue Reading
On May 28, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) proposed amendments to CCR, Title 8, Section 3395 (heat illness prevention rule) that would add significant burdens to employers with employees working outdoors. The draft proposal can be found online at CA.gov’s Heat Illness Prevention Programs and Regulations page. Among other things, the changes: … Continue Reading
Senator Patty Murray (D. WA) and co-sponsor Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D. NH) recently reintroduced the Protecting America’s Workers Act (“PAWA”). PAWA is designed to expand the protections and enforcement scope of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”). PAWA increases OSHA protections to include state, county, municipal and U.S. government employees. Moreover, PAWA increases whistleblower … Continue Reading
The OSHA Standard for Reporting and Recording Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 29 C.F.R. § 1904, requires that certain employers track work related illnesses and injuries of their employees throughout the year, and post the summaries of those injuries from the previous year from February 1 to April 30. OSHA's deadline for employers to post their annual summary of injuries and illnesses is February 1, 2012. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is seeking public comment on interim final rules that revise its regulations on the filing and handling of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower complaints.
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