With the recent passage of Senate Bill 592, the Oregon Legislature has dramatically augmented the range of civil penalties on employers who violate Oregon Safe Employment laws. Previously, Oregon law imposed only the minimum civil penalties prescribed under the federal OSHA. Effective May 24, 2023, the minimum penalty for a single serious violation has
Effective April 3, 2023, Oregon OSHA suspended its rules addressing the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Amended Work Clothing Rules via Oregon OSHA Administrative Order 1-2023.
The COVID-19 rules have been temporarily suspended as an interim measure until Oregon OSHA implements the permanent rulemaking process to fully repeal the rules, which it intends to
Manufacturers’ increasingly advanced robotic systems have made the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) standard for the Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) impractical, even obsolete, in many workplaces. The new technology is forcing change in a standard that appears among the top 10 cited by OSHA each year.
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This past spring, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its intention to implement a new heat illness standard that will apply to indoor environments. The agency said it has manufacturing facilities in mind, as the rule targets “indoor workers without climate-controlled environments.”
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On Tuesday, October 27, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a long- awaited decision in Sec’y of Labor v. Wynnewood Refining Co., LLC. That case originated in 2012 when OSHA inspected the company following a boiler explosion that killed two employees. OSHA issued several repeat citation items under the Process
Last week we wrote about government agencies’ tendencies to “flip-flop” on guidance related to preventing transmission and spread of coronavirus (“COVID-19”), and how this impacts employers’ ability to meet health and safety compliance obligations expectations and avoid regulatory liability. Underscoring these points, on Monday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) rolled out
Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), a 3-Commisioner panel appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate which hears appeals of contested OSHA cases, issued two decisions vacating OSHA’s citations and one decision reclassifying a willful violation to a serious violation and reducing the penalty from $49,000 to just $3500.
With everyone focusing on the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) has quietly moved forward with issuing a final rule on occupational exposures to beryllium and beryllium compounds (collectively “beryllium”) for the general industry. Requirements for occupational exposures to beryllium are currently contained in three separate standards for the general industry
Requirements for recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses are unique in California, with the state having more stringent obligations than federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) around both reporting of “serious injuries” and what constitutes a work-related injury or illness. To complicate the matter further for California employers, the State of California