Employers can breathe a sigh of relief for now as it appears that Senate Democrats are no longer pursuing a massive increase to OSHA’s penalties for safety violations. Currently, the maximum fine OSHA can assess against an employer per alleged repeat, willful, or failure-to-abate violations is $145,027. The penalty amount is subject to automatic annual
OSHA Enforcement
White House Pushes OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Initiative
As thermometers hit their peak, the White House is touting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) heat illness prevention efforts to “protect millions of workers from heat illness and injury.”
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OSHA Partially Opens Record on Rulemaking for Permanent Healthcare COVID-19 Standard
OSHA has just announced it is partially reopening the record on the rulemaking for the permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard known as the rule on Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings. Comments are due by April 22, 2022. The docket number is OSHA-2020-0004. Following the written comments, there will also be a hearing held online…
OSHA Launches COVID-19 Inspection Initiative for Healthcare Employers
With its new inspection initiative, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is taking steps to ensure certain healthcare employers continue to protect workers against COVID-19, even as falling case numbers across the country have prompted many state and local agencies to withdraw mask mandates and other COVID-19 precautions.
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SCOTUS Questioning Suggests OSHA ETS is Squeezing an Elephant into a Mousehole
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the OSHA ETS case. Of course one never knows how the Court will rule, but if the Justices’ questions are any indication, there could be a 6-3 split in favor of a stay, with Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, and…
OSHA Withdraws COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard, Vows to Use General Duty Clause
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced that it is withdrawing most of the Emergency Temporary Standard for healthcare employers (Healthcare ETS) it promulgated more than six months ago.
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Petitioners Ask 6th Circuit to Hear OSHA ETS Challenge En Banc with All Active Judges
Four separate groups of petitioners challenging the OSHA ETS, including a coalition of 27 states, have asked the court to hear the OSHA challenge en banc, arguing that the case involves a question of exceptional importance in that it is an “unprecedented mandate of COVID vaccines based on a rarely used law of questionable applicability.”…
Congress Considering $700,000 OSHA Penalties
A Congressional committee has approved maximum penalties of $700,000 per item for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.
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Despite Relaxed CDC COVID-19 Guidance, No Relaxing of Rules (Yet) in California, Virginia
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has offered new COVID-19 guidance indicating that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks or maintain physical distance from others in most settings. However, questions about employers’ compliance obligations and general duty expectations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) remain.…
OSHA Nomination Signals Greater Enforcement, New Standards
Signaling significant regulatory and enforcement changes from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), President Joseph Biden has named a California official to lead the agency.
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