OSHA - General

OSHA launched a new Preventing Workplace Violence in Healthcare webpage this week. It contains several new tools and resources to help healthcare facilities combat workplace violence, including:

This podcast discusses OSHA’s updated guidelines on safety and health management programs, which have been put out for public comment

A ruling that went against an Alabama underground coal operator has revealed sharp differences among members of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission over the interpretation of a safety standard dealing with imminent danger.

The Holiday Season is definitely upon us. Thanksgiving is only hours away. And while many of us make our last minute preparations for that big turkey dinner and the inevitable tryptophan-induced nap in front of the television, retailers are preparing themselves for one of the biggest shopping days o

On November 20, 2015 the fall semiannual regulatory agenda for federal agencies was published. This Regulatory Agenda provides a complete list of all regulatory actions that are under active consideration for promulgation, proposal, or review and covers regulatory actions for over 60 federal departm

The preliminary schedule is out! Listen to this brief podcast to find out the estimated dates for OSHA’s final rules on crystalline silica and electronic recordkeeping.

Citing a recent occupational death and serious accident, the Mine Safety and Health Administration said it will be enforcing safety standards over the next several months in the Metal/Non-Metal (M/NM) sector of mining to try to prevent accidents associated with confined spaces.

In August, OSHA issued a revised version of its 2006 Directive on the Agency’s National Emphasis Program on Amputations that includes an updated list of 80 industries, primarily in manufacturing, that are targeted for inspection based on the high number of amputations that have occurred in those ind

OSHA is being criticized for a recent interpretation letter clarifying who is responsible for recording illnesses and injuries in what the agency considers a “joint employer relationship” where supervision is shared between a host employer and a staffing agency. In deciding whether the host employer

The quasi-judicial body overseeing enforcement actions by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has handed OSHA another challenge to the agency’s nascent use of guidance documents as the basis for issuing citations, rather than relying on legally promulgated standards.

Recognizing that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, OSHA introduced last week its draft document, “Protecting Whistleblowers: Recommended Practices for Employers for Preventing and Addressing Retaliation” (available here). In the draft document, OSHA identifies these five key steps t

While big penalties levied by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration dominate the headlines, monetary fines imposed by health and safety agencies in states backed by OSHA can be significant, too.

Last month, OSHA issued the latest update to its Field Operations Manual (FOM), the most recent update since a prior update in 2009. Significantly, OSHA’s FOM serves as a reference document for OSHA field personnel, providing enforcement policies and procedures relating to OSHA investigations and en

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 contains a few surprises for employers covered by the OSH Act. To date, OSHA’s monetary penalties have not been subject to inflationary increases and, in fact, have been static since 1990. The proposed “Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Ac

In view of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that poultry workers are twice as likely to suffer serious injuries and six times more likely to get sick on the job than other private sector workers, OSHA launched a new Regional Emphasis Program last week to reduce musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomi

Citing an increase in the number of fatalities at non-coal mines and the coming of cooler weather, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced a stepped-up enforcement to combat hazards and fatality risks.

At a House subcommittee hearing on October 7, the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Dr. David Michaels, faced a grilling from Republican lawmakers over recently issued guidance memoranda for agency inspectors and examples of allegedly over-the-top enforcement actions.

For the last several years, OSHA has expressed concerns regarding a host of employer practices it believes may result in underreporting of injuries and illnesses as depicted by several recent high-profile cases of alleged employer underreporting. Heightening OSHA’s interest is the position taken by

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has denied a petition by a Texas metal producer that, if approved, would have forced the Union Pacific Railroad Co. (UP) to restore rail service at the producer’s plant in the midst of an employee lockout. The STB is an economic and adjudicatory body affiliated

As the Midlands recovers from the effects of widespread flooding, and as rain-swollen rivers reach the coastal portions of the South Carolina, Federal OSHA and SC OSHA have issued warnings about potential hazards encountered in connection with flooding and storm cleanup.