workplace Archives

OSHA Announces Fall Protection NEP

May 11, 2023 - The recent announcement by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) about the launch of a National Emphasis Program (NEP) targeting fall hazards is not a big surprise. Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) has been OSHA’s most frequently cited standard for over a decade. In FY 2022, the agency issued 5260 violations, more than […]

What Does OSHA’s Top Ten Violations List for 2022 Tell Us?

December 22, 2022 - OSHA’s “Top Ten” violations list — announced earlier this fall — didn’t hold any surprises. The list doesn’t change much yearly, but it provides an interesting annual framework for understanding how violations are assessed in various industry sectors. OSHA provides an easy-to-use online utility for showing the most frequently cited 29 CFR OSHA standards by […]

OSHA Wants Your Data

April 11, 2022 - OSHA wants to change its injury and illness reporting rules again. They also launched an initiative to find employers who are not filing. Finding Non-Responders The federal government is strengthening its enforcement of injury and illness reporting requirements. OSHA is planning to proactively identify employers who fail to report specific annual data on Form 300A. […]

OSHA Sets New Healthcare Rules and Recommendations

June 29, 2021 - OSHA has issued a healthcare emergency standard. This emergency COVID-19 rule is for healthcare only — everyone else gets recommendations. Long-anticipated President Biden issued an executive order on his second day in office, directing OSHA to develop updated guidance for employers and consider the viability of an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) — and get back […]

COVID-19 UPDATE: Emerging Guidance from OSHA for Employers

April 15, 2020 - Employers are finally getting more guidance and clarification from Washington DC about several COVID-19 related OSHA compliance issues. Recording and Reporting COVID-19 Cases On April 10, 2020, OSHA finally issued some additional guidance about recording COVID-19 illness. How can employers possibly meet the requirements of 29 CFR § 1904.5 — the OSHA standard defining recordable […]

COVID-19 UPDATE: Should Employers Require Face Masks in the Workplace?

April 8, 2020 - Employers wondering how to best protect employees from COVID-19 exposure may be considering whether they should allow or require employees to wear face masks at work. Recent guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends covering the mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when in public, especially in places where […]

Does An Employee Complaint Ever Become Too ‘Old” To Address?

December 10, 2019 - Both employees and employers struggle with whether a complaint regarding workplace conduct is ever too “old” to raise and/or investigate. In New Hampshire, the general statute of limitations for civil actions is 3 years from the date of the conduct giving rise to the claim. For employment matters under the jurisdiction of the New Hampshire […]

General Duty Clause Violations

November 7, 2019 - When I was writing about pending federal heat stress standards recently, I reviewed OSHA’s enforcement summary for 2018 and was struck by how many 5(a)(1) — General Duty Clause (GDC) — inspections there were last year specifically for heat (130). While inspections are down a little bit overall, they are certainly on the rise in […]

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 […]

Medical Marijuana is Not Prohibited Worker’s Compensation Expense Under State Law

May 8, 2019 - The New Hampshire Supreme Court recently ruled that New Hampshire’s therapeutic cannabis (or “medical marijuana”) law does not prohibit workers’ compensation insurance carriers from reimbursing expenses for medical marijuana. The issue underlying Appeal of Panaggio (New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board), No. 2017-469 (March 7, 2019) (https://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/opinions/2019/2019017panaggio.pdf) was whether a workers’ compensation insurance carrier could deny […]

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