OSHA - General

On April 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its 1996 and 2004 guidelines for protecting healthcare and social service workers from workplace violence. According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 70 percent of the 23,000 significant injur

Healthcare and social service workers face significant risks of job-related violence and it is OSHA’s stated mission to help employers address these serious hazards. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 23,000 significant injuries due to assault at work occurred in 2013. Notably, m

The following are highlights of the OSHA-related news for the week

OSHA is responsible for enforcing the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and twenty-one other statutes which are designed to protect employees who report violations of various laws in a broad variety of areas. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the U.S. Dep

From May 4-15, 2015, OSHA will be hosting its second annual National Safety Stand-Down to prevent falls in construction. According to OSHA, jobsite fatalities caused by falls from elevation accounted for 279 of the 806 construction fatalities recorded in 2012. Additionally, fall prevention safety st

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a proposed rule revising its eye and face protection standards applicable to a number of industries. The purpose of the amended rule is to incorporate by reference the most recent versions of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI

Lead exposure can cause long term damage to the central nervous system, urinary, blood and reproductive systems. Without proper protection, employees who encounter lead in the work place can bring this toxic metal home on their clothes, hair and hands. Family members, including pregnant women and ch

Can an employer receive an OSHA citation for failing to protect its employees from exposure to the Ebola virus? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. While most workers in the United States are unlikely to encounter the Ebola virus, workers whose jobs involve healthcare, airline and other transportation

As of January 1, 2015, OSHA is setting forth new reporting requirements for employers. According to a recent OSHA “Tweet”, employers will be required to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye within 24 hours of lear

An OSHA citation usually comes at the worst time. Actually, is there ever a good time? Probably not. But, what if after receiving a citation you realize you do not agree with it? Or, perhaps, you cannot deny that the violative conduct occurred, but you believe certain mitigating factors should be ta

On October 30, 2014, the National Nurses United (NNU) announced that nurses across the country will protest on November 12 to demand tougher Ebola protections. Specifically, nurses from California to Maine will hold strikes in 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, highlighted by a massive two

In the words of U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, “[t]he cell phones in our pockets can’t come at the cost of a worker’s life.” On October 14, 2014, the Department of Labor, Federal Communications Commission, and telecommunications industry leaders joined forces to discuss solutions to the su

The public concern and confusion generated by the third reported diagnosis of Ebola in the U.S. has reached the workplace. What was once considered just a public health concern has become an employment issue as well. Employees are anxious about individuals who have travelled to and from West Africa,

With the diagnosis of yet another case of Ebola virus disease in the United States, and the lack of formal travel restrictions, many employers – particularly those in the healthcare industry – are left wondering how they should react to the very real concerns of their employees, patients and custome

Executive Summary: With the diagnosis of the second Ebola case in the United States on October 12, 2014 – one in which a healthcare worker contracted the lethal disease while performing her job duties – U.S. employers are examining what necessary precautions should be taken to control and prevent th

The White House held a “listening session” on the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order with major employer association representatives on Friday, October 13, 2014. The Executive action calls on the U.S. Department of Labor DOL to issue regulations that would impose multiple new obligations o

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a request for information (RFI) regarding chemical management methods and permissible exposure limits (PELs). According to a notice to be published in the October 10 edition of the Federal Register, the agency is "reviewing its overall app

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has reached the proportions of an international health emergency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that the first U.S. case of the disease was diagnosed in Dallas, Texas on Septem

Employees of a Brooklyn medical facility were allegedly exposed to head, eye, face and groin injuries and intimidation and threats during routine interactions with patients and visitors. An inspection by OSHA reportedly found approximately 40 incidents of workplace violence between February 7 and Ap

OSHA has announced that it will extend the comment period on the proposed rule to improve the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses to Oct. 14, 2014. The proposal, published on Nov. 8, 2013, would amend OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation to add requirements for the electronic submission of injur