OSHA Enforcement

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In a recently issued 2009 Enforcement Summary, OSHA claims that violations issued against employers in fiscal year 2009 were up 2.8% since fiscal year 2005.  Furthermore, the total number of serious and repeat violations were up 10.9% and 17.5%, respectively, over the same five year period.  According to the Agency, "OSHA is committed to refocusing OSHA’s priorities…

OSHA has issued a proposed interpretation of the terms "feasible administrative or engineering controls" as they are used in OSHA’s general industry and construction occupational noise standards.  Under these standards, employers must first implement feasible administrative or engineering controls before utilizing personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposures.  According to OSHA, the proposed interpretation will "clarify that feasible…

It has been several months since OSHA unveiled its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), which focuses OSHA’s enforcement resources on employers "who have demonstrated indifference to their OSH Act obligations by committing willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations."  This is the time for employers to ramp up their safety and health efforts to ensure that they do not become a…

In what is certainly one of the most active periods in OSHA’s history, the Agency is using every tool at its disposal to ensure that employers are in compliance with OSHA’s standards and rules.  OSHA is pushing forward with new rules, enforcement initiatives, interpretive letters, media initiatives, and so forth, at an unprecedented pace.

A review of OSHA’s website…

Check out this interesting blog post from Frank Alvarez, head of Jackson Lewis’s Disability, Leave, and Health Management practice group:  Time to Revisit ADA Medical Inquiry Rules at "Loggerheads" with OSHA Policy.  The post describes the EEOC’s narrow interpretation of the ADA rule that employee medical inquiries be "job-related and consistent with business necessity" and questions whether such a…

OSHA has just announced that its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) is effective June 18th.  The SVEP “concentrates resources on inspecting employers who have demonstrated indifference to their OSH Act obligations by willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations.” Under the program, an inspection of an employer meeting the criteria of an SVEP case may result in enhanced follow-up inspections…

On Wednesday, May 12, at 3:00 pm ET, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels will lead a special free webcast related to the issue of safety incentive programs.  Titled "A Conversation with Assistant Secretary for OSHA Dr. David Michaels:  What to do About Safety Incentives," the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) event will discuss "the difference between appropriate…

OSHA has updated its Recordkeeping National Emphasis Program (NEP).  The NEP, initated originally in September, 2009, was designed to investigate whether, and to what extent, injuries and illnesses are being underreported by employers.  The original NEP, as well as the revision, targets employers with low rate establishments operating in historically high rate industries.  Click here for a Special…