By Amanda R. Strainis-Walker and Eric J. Conn With the dog days of summer around the corner, OSHA just put out a press release reminding employers with outside workplaces about OSHA’s focus on the hazards of working in high heat. The press release reinvigorates OSHA’s heat-related illness campaign that began leading into last summer, when… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Enforcement
Subscribe to Enforcement RSS FeedD.C. Circuit Limits OSHA’s Recordkeeping “Madness”
By Eric J. Conn and Casey M. Cosentino The last month has been a rough stretch for OSHA in terms of Injury and Illness Recordkeeping enforcement. As we reported last month on the OSHA Law Update Blog, in March, the Seventh Circuit beat back OSHA’s attempt to expand the meaning of “work related” for purposes… Continue Reading
Grain Journal Features OSHA’s Enforcement Efforts in the Grain Industry
Late last year, I delivered a keynote address to the National Grain & Feed Association’s (NGFA) annual Country Elevator Conference regarding: Why it is important for grain handlers to prepare now for an OSHA inspection; What to do now to prepare for an OSHA inspection; and How best to manage an OSHA inspection once it… Continue Reading
Workplace Violence Policies and Background Checks Are Essential Components of a Prevention Plan
By Kara M. Maciel Sadly, workplace violence continues to be a topic that challenges many organizations. Indeed, as the news reports continue to remind us, employees and non-employees often take out their aggression and violent acts within the workplace. As the recent attacks at hospitals in Pittsburgh and in Washington, D.C. demonstrate, there remains a… Continue Reading
OSHA Launches New Nursing Home National Emphasis Program
By Julia E. Loyd and Eric J. Conn Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) launched a new National Emphasis Program targeting Nursing Homes and Residential Care facilities (“Nursing Home NEP”). In an accompanying Press Release, OSHA announced that the Nursing Home NEP aims to protect workers from safety… Continue Reading
GHS & HazCom: 10 Things Employers Must Know About OSHA’s New Hazard Communication Standard
By Eric J. Conn and Casey M. Cosentino Following a March 20, 2012 Press Release, on March 26, 2012, OSHA issued its much anticipated final Hazard Communication Rule (“HazCom”), which integrates the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (“GHS”) into OSHA’s old Hazard Communication Standard (“HazCom” or “HCS”). The new HazCom Standard… Continue Reading
Seventh Circuit “Puzzled” by OSHA’s “Work-Related” Recordkeeping Requirement
By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn On March 20, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated an ALJ’s decision penalizing Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. for allegedly failing to record an employee’s “work-related” musculoskeletal disorder (“MSD”) on the Company’s OSHA 300 log. Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. v. Sec’y of Labor, No…. Continue Reading
Managing an OSHA Inspection: Answers to 5 Frequently Asked Questions
By Eric J. Conn Below is a set of important questions that we are frequently asked by clients when OSHA unexpectedly shows up at their doorsteps. These questions and many more are also addressed in our OSHA Inspection Checklist desk reference guide. * * * * * * * … Continue Reading
Enterprise Enforcement: OSHA’s Attack on Employers with Multiple Locations
By Alexis M. Downs and Eric J. Conn Companies that operate multiple facilities in different locations, such as national retail stores, grocery chains, manufacturers, and hotel chains, need to be aware of three new OSHA enforcement trends with enterprise-wide consequences: A rise in follow-up inspections and Repeat violations at sister facilities within a corporate family;… Continue Reading
Text Free Zone: OSHA’s Distracted Driving Initiative Kicks Into Gear
By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn “Texting while driving” is an epidemic in America, which has prompted forty-two states and the District of Columbia to ban (completely or partially) this conduct for drivers. Here’s a map of the U.S. states that have enacted some ban on texting while driving. Studies suggest that texting while driving distracts… Continue Reading
OSHA Finally Releases Its Watered-Down Fall 2011 Regulatory Agenda
By Paul H. Burmeister and Eric J. Conn At the end of January 2012, OSHA finally released its Fall 2011 regulatory agenda, which is intended to be an overview of what OSHA plans to accomplish in the next few months. The agenda includes updates about the status of several major OSHA rulemaking efforts. Below is… Continue Reading
OSHA Continues to Bear Down on the Grain Industry
Last week, the leaders of the grain industry in North Dakota gathered for their annual conference, this year the Centennial gathering of the North Dakota Grain Dealers Association. I had the privilege of speaking at the conference, and share some background about OSHA’s increasing focus on the grain handling industry, a review of grain handlers’ rights vis-a-vis… Continue Reading
The So-Called “Rule of 10″: A Myth about OSHA’s Lack of Jurisdiction Over Small Employers
By Eric J. Conn and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker One of the questions we are most frequently asked by small employers is about the so-called “Rule of 10″; i.e., the long-perpetuated myth that OSHA does not have jurisdiction over employers or workplaces with fewer than 10 employees. This is a commonly misunderstood policy, so let’s set the record straight…. Continue Reading
OSHA’s Per Violation Penalties Increase in 2011
By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn According to statistics recently reported by OSHA, the number of workplace inspections conducted by federal OSHA in FY 2011 fell to a total of 40,215, down 778 from 2010. The agency attributes this slight decline in the number of inspections to the fact that many inspections, particularly those… Continue Reading
2011 Rundown of OSHA’s Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program and Rulemaking
By Amanda R. Strainis-Walker and Eric J. Conn OSHA’s keen interest in enforcement related to combustible dust shows no sign of waning as we close the door on 2011. OSHA’s Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP), initiated in 2008, continued in earnest through 2011, and notably, has no expiration date. The number of violations and the… Continue Reading
10 Things You Must Know About OSHA’s Nationwide Chemical Facilities PSM NEP
By Eric J. Conn, Head of the OSHA Practice Group at Epstein Becker & Green At the end of November 2011, OSHA announced that it had extended nationwide what had been a limited pilot enforcement program targeting chemical facilities’ compliance with OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard in a few Regions of the country. This new Chemical… Continue Reading
OSHA Forecast – Top 5 OSHA Developments to Look Out For In 2012
By Eric J. Conn and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker As the clock winds down on 2011, a truly remarkable year of OSHA enforcement, it is time to think about 2012. Notwithstanding the fact that 2012 is an election year, and much of OSHA’s rulemaking activities will be shelved until the day after the election, 2012 is… Continue Reading
OSHA Targets Data Centers For Electrical Safety Enforcement
By Eric J. Conn, Head of the OSHA Group at Epstein Becker & Green OSHA is signaling a major departure from its position on acceptable exceptions to the Lockout/Tagout requirements in the agency’s electrical safety standards. Historically, employers have been permitted to conduct electrical maintenance near energized parts in data centers that host critical business… Continue Reading
Congress Accuses OSHA of Inserting Itself Into Hotel Labor Disputes
By Amanda Strainis-Walker OSHA’s recent string of hotel inspections in response to formal safety and health complaints filed by UNITE-HERE and others on behalf of hotel housekeepers is under serious scrutiny from the House of Representatives Subcommittee that oversees OSHA’s operations. OSHA leadership is defending its decision to inspect hotels, and is signaling that OSHA… Continue Reading
OSHA’s Primary Metals National Emphasis Program Begins
By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn On June 2, 2011, OSHA launched an enforcement National Emphasis Program focused on employers and hazards in the Primary Metals Industries (“Primary Metals NEP”). Establishments in the primary metals industries are those involved in extracting and refining metals from rocks containing iron, lead, nickel, tin and other primary metals,… Continue Reading
OSHA’s New Laboratory Safety Guidance Paves the Way for Enforcement Actions
By Alexis M. Downs and Eric J. Conn Employers who operate laboratories are suddenly receiving a high level of attention from federal safety and health regulators. Following a string of serious laboratory accidents, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (the “CSB”) posted an informational video on its website detailing hazards at chemical laboratories, based on… Continue Reading
U.S. Department of Labor Targets Hospitality Industry Through New iPhone/iPad Applications
By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn There is an on-going trend by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) to leverage popular technology to increase public and consumer awareness of the laws and regulations it enforces. Indeed, the DOL is continually exploring creative ways to share information with the public using the fastest and most-wide reaching… Continue Reading
OSHA Renews Enforcement Program Targeting Hotels
By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn OSHA recently renewed a Local Emphasis Enforcement Program (“LEP”) that targets hotel operators in OSHA’s Region 2, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The directive outlining OSHA’s Hotel LEP is available on OSHA’s website. The Hotel LEP was launched in October 2010, and… Continue Reading
OSHA Targets Manufacturers, Nursing Care Facilities, and Chemical Plants
By Eric J. Conn What do manufacturers, nursing homes, and chemical companies have in common? They all represent industries receiving special enforcement scrutiny from today’s OSHA. OSHA is targeting manufacturers under a major Recordkeeping Enforcement National Emphasis Program (Recordkeeping NEP). OSHA launched the Recordkeeping NEP at the end of 2009, originally selecting inspection targets across… Continue Reading