OSHA Archives - Page 11 of 12

Federal Heat Stress Standards Are On The Horizon

August 19, 2019 - US House Democrats released a bill in early July that, if passed, would direct OSHA, over the next two years, to develop federal standards on workplace heat stress. The Asuncion Valdivia Illness and Fatality Prevention Act is named for a 53-year old man who suffered a fatal stroke in 2004 after picking grapes for 10 […]

Changes to NH Public Employee Safety and Health Laws

August 13, 2019 - The federal Occupational Safety & Health Act (“OSH Act”) does not apply to state employees. In an effort to address this perceived “safety void,” House Bill 406 was passed. This new law extends injury reporting and investigation requirements to public workers as of July 14, 2019. The law sets out specific reporting requirements for public […]

Acosta is Out, Scalia is Nominated – Will the DOL Actually Get Something Done This Year?

August 12, 2019 - July was an eventful month at the Department of Labor. Other than the departure of DOL Secretary Alex Acosta on July 9 and the nomination of Eugene Scalia one week later, there have been several other DOL personnel changes this month that are worth noting. According to a DOL press release on July 22, Tim […]

The Departure of Scott Mungo: Will Lack of Leadership Affect OSHA’s Effectiveness?

July 31, 2019 - Scott Mungo recently withdrew his name from consideration as the nominee for Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA at the Department of Labor. It had been 19 months of waiting, and some insiders said that he was frustrated with the confirmation process and just wanted to move along with his life. It might have been […]

New LOTO Rules Are On The Horizon

July 9, 2019 - A few weeks ago OSHA announced its decision to leave the Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Standard alone for now, but not for long. Immediately following this decision OSHA issued a Request for Information (RFI) to get feedback from industry stakeholders about their equipment and operations, and how technological advancements (i.e. computer-based controls) could affect LOTO rulemaking down […]

OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) Remains Problematic and Controversial

June 17, 2019 - OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) is almost a decade old this June, and it’s been controversial ever since it was launched in 2010. OSHA called the program successful in its own 2013 evaluation, saying it was helping them target high-emphasis hazards, facilitate follow-up inspections, and enhance settlements. But others —particularly employers who may have […]

OSHA is Starting to Use Drones and Employers Need to Be Prepared

May 22, 2019 - The use of drones to perform a variety of surveillance and inspection tasks has been growing exponentially in recent years, and the federal framework that will ultimately govern drone use for everybody — government agencies, commercial operators, and private citizens — is still being established. Policies are evolving rapidly, however, and OSHA’s announcement and publication […]

Still Confused About the Joint Employer Rule? You’re Not Alone.

July 19, 2018 - In 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it was rolling back the Obama administration’s expansion of the joint employer rule to much applause by the business industry. In June 2017, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced the withdrawal of the Department’s 2015 and 2016 informal guidance on joint employment and independent contractors. While […]

OSHA’s Silica Standard – Top Two Complaints

June 7, 2018 - We work quite a bit with Contractor’s Risk Management, Inc. (CRM), New England’s premier safety and health consultants. After training hundreds of construction employees on OSHA’s silica standard (29 C.F.R. §1153), the folks at CRM say that the two biggest gripes are: 1) specialized equipment; and 2) respirator use. Simply using a cordless drill or […]

OSHA’s “Other-Than-Serious” Citations Can Result in Repeats

May 21, 2018 - As I tell my clients, resolving your OSHA citations by accepting an Other-Than-Serious may lower your exposure to a high penalty Repeat in the future – but you’re not out of the woods completely. For example, in 2012 the Walmart Supercenter in Rochester, NY received three (3) Repeat citations based solely on previous Other-Than-Serious citations […]

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