The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) published its controversial final “walkaround” rule on April 1, 2024. The final rule clarifies the rights of employees to authorize a representative – employee or non-employee – to accompany an OSHA compliance officer (CSHO) during an inspection of their workplace. This can include a … Continue Reading
On Thursday, January 21, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order that directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue guidance to employers on protecting workers from COVID-19, including protecting workers from COVID-19 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and protecting other categories of workers from COVID-19. In this alert we outline … Continue Reading
On May 19, 2020, OSHA issued two updated memorandums to regional administrators and state plan designees. The first updated the agency’s enforcement guidance for recording COVID-19 cases in the workplace. As we discussed here, OSHA originally indicated on April 10, 2020 that it would be exercising “enforcement discretion” and focusing COVID-19 recordkeeping requirements in the healthcare, … Continue Reading
Over the past several months, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has steadily issued guidance to both employers and agency officials on strategies to navigate regulatory matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as we have discussed here, here, here, here, and here. However, federal OSHA is not the only government agency addressing the … Continue Reading
While COVID-19 has turned everyone’s focus toward safety and health generally, it has forced US employers specifically to focus on the safety and health of their employees during an unprecedented time. Employers in the US have common law and statutory duties to ensure safe workplaces, but the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted many of the … Continue Reading
One of the biggest questions plaguing employers during the COVID-19 pandemic is whether or not to provide employees with respirators—the holy grail of all personal protective equipment (PPE) at this time. On March 11, 2020, the White House issued a Presidential Memorandum, entitled “Making General Use Respirators Available,” which mandated all necessary efforts by the … Continue Reading
Since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the United States in early 2020, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been issuing COVID-19 guidance to employers on appropriate ways to address the pandemic, as we previously discussed here, here, and here. The guidance has mirrored recommendations coming from the Centers for Disease Control and … Continue Reading
The coronavirus, and the illness caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, are dominating headlines, stock markets and daily conversation. They are also raising many questions—and employers in the U.S. are facing one such critical question: How do we help ensure the health and safety of our employees? Squire Patton Boggs helps provide some answers below.… Continue Reading
Effective October 1, 2018, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Trenching and Excavation, with the intent of describing “policies and procedures . . . to identify and to reduce hazards which are causing or likely to cause serious injuries and fatalities during trenching and excavation operations.” The updated NEP … Continue Reading
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced its plan to hold a stakeholder meeting in Washington, D.C. on July 17, 2017, “to discuss the future direction of the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP),” the agency’s initiative to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through cooperation, collaboration, and targeted hazard prevention and control. A second stakeholder … Continue Reading
On March 16, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) adopted a 60 day effective-date delay for its controversial rule regulating occupational exposure to beryllium (the Final Beryllium Rule). The rule is now scheduled to be effective on May 20, 2017. The delay in the rule reflects the agency’s compliance with a directive issued … Continue Reading
A common question that arises when performing environmental due diligence on commercial real estate is the degree to which the presence of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) should be investigated. In the case of ACMs, “what you don’t know can hurt you” and, therefore, the old axiom of “less is more” does not apply. This is especially true regarding asbestos not only … Continue Reading
What was recently a hot topic within the regulatory community, conversations about Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) whistleblower, retaliation, and discrimination claims have seemingly fallen by the wayside. But don’t be fooled. Two recent developments demonstrate that these US Department of Labor agencies continue to find novel … Continue Reading
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released new guidance September 9 on settling whistleblower claims under the 22 statutes the agency administers that provide more protections to employees and make it more difficult for employers to end litigation.… Continue Reading
On December 17, 2015, the US Departments of Labor (“DOL”) and Justice (“DOJ”) signed a memorandum of understanding in an effort to more effectively prosecute workplace safety crimes under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSH Act”), the Mine Safety and Health Act (“Mine Act”), and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (“MSPA”). … Continue Reading
How can an occupational safety and health (OSH) legislative compliance audit, along with other steps, help companies avoid $1 million plus fines associated with OSH incidents? A recent Australian court decision revealed that an OSH audit along with a demonstrated commitment to improved workplace safety can reduce the penalty following an OSH incident to 3% … Continue Reading
Under new reporting requirements announced on September 11, 2014 by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), employers will be required to notify OSHA of any work-related fatalities within eight hours, and any work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations or losses of an eye within 24 hours. This is a move away from OSHA’s prior, less stringent … Continue Reading
On March 26, 2012, the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) issued its final rule adopting the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) as OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). The rule, codified at 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200, requires chemical “manufacturers, importers, distributors, and employers” to comply with the new GHS … Continue Reading
When asked for comment on the recent opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Shamokin Filler Co. v. Fed. Mine Safety and Health Review Comm’n, which held that a coal processor was subject to the jurisdiction of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) instead of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Squire Patton … Continue Reading
