Thank you to my colleague, Jonathan Schaefer, for his contributions to this post. Jon focuses his practice on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety, permitting, site remediation, and litigation related to federal and state regulatory programs. While Federal OSHA has issued numerous COVID-related guidance documents, it has declined to issue an enforceable COVID standard. Instead, OSHA … Continue Reading
The disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic stressed the entire manufacturing sector. For the most part, manufacturers responded to those challenges quickly and responsibly. Now that every state has begun reopening, the manufacturing sector will once again be called on to lead. Manufacturers which respond well to those challenges will thrive in the months ahead. … Continue Reading
While a recent headline-grabbing Forbes article may have caused some concern (“Researchers Say Social Distancing To Prevent Coronavirus May Need To Continue Until 2022”), many manufacturers are now planning to return to “Business as (the New) Normal.” During the last two months, I have been fielding calls from essential manufacturers on how to conduct business … Continue Reading
Every year, OSHA releases a list of the 10 most frequently cited violations, which, for 2016, were accumulated by reviewing the nearly 32,000 workplace inspections conducted by OSHA staff. The list for 2016 looks a whole lot like the list for 2015 and the preceding years. As OSHA notes, “it rarely changes.” The top 10 … Continue Reading
Special thanks to my colleague, Diana Neeves, for her contributions to this post. Diana is an attorney in our Environmental & Utilities Group. At the end of last week, OSHA issued its long-awaited final rule on walking-working surfaces and personal fall protection systems for general industry. The new rule is intended to update the standards … Continue Reading
Thank you to my colleague, Tavo True-Alcala, for his contributions to this post. Tavo is an analyst in our Environmental & Utilities Group. In October, OSHA released its new Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs, which were issued to incorporate the experience and advances gained since the previous set of recommendations was released … Continue Reading
Thanks to my colleague Tavo True-Alcala for his contributions to this post. Tavo is an analyst in our Environmental & Utilities Practice Group. OSHA recently announced a final rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. Under the new rule, employers will be required to submit injury and illness data to OSHA on an … Continue Reading
OSHA’s updated reporting and recordkeeping rule, found at 29 C.F.R. 1904, went into effect in January 2015. We summarized these new requirements on the blog, which require employers to report severe workplace injuries, including inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye, within 24 hours. OSHA implemented these new requirements to help it target enforcement … Continue Reading
With the new year comes a new focus on increasing criminal prosecutions against employers for worker safety violations. In the end of December, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a plan to deter workplace safety violations through more stringent criminal prosecution. Under the new plan, the DOJ will work … Continue Reading
