Insight & Commentary on Occupational Safety & Health Issues
OSHA is beginning to use its electronic recordkeeping system to target inspections for employers. The agency launched a new initiative last week to focus enforcement resources on workplaces with a history of injuries and illnesses, but have not provided required data under its electronic recordkeeping rules.
Announcing its Site-Specific Targeting 2016 (SST-16) Program, OSHA is…
Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s order quashing an administrative warrant for the inspection of a poultry processing plant. USA v. Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc., No. 16-17745 (11th Cir. 2018). In February 2016, an employee of Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc. (“Mar-Jac”) was injured while repairing an electrical…
In a memorandum to Regional Administrators dated October 11, 2018, OSHA clarified the agency’s position as to whether certain drug testing policies or safety incentive programs would be considered violations of part 29 C.F.R. § 1904.35(b)(1)(iv). Part 29 C.F.R. § 1904.35(b)(1)(iv) prohibits employers from discharging or discriminating against an employee for reporting a work-related injury…
A recent Bloomberg Environment article reported that “Almost Half of Employers Didn’t Comply With Injury Reporting Rule.” Employers required to maintain injury and illness records were required to submit their 2017 annual summary of workplace injury and illnesses, OSHA 300A Form, by July 1, 2018. Approximately 460,192 employers were expected to file the 300A Form,…
OSHA recently announced that the compliance date for “specific ancillary requirements of the general industry beryllium standard” would be extended to December 12, 2018. At this time, OSHA is preparing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking designed to clarify these provisions as well as addressing employers’ concerns with compliance.
Compliance Date Extended until December 12, 2018…
The silica standard for construction came into effect last year, on September 23, 2017, whereas most provisions of the silica rule as it pertains to general industry and maritime (29 CFR § 1910.1053) take effect this month, on June 23, 2018. The new standard for general industry and maritime imposes stricter permissible exposure limits (PELs)…
On May 11th OSHA began enforcement of certain requirements of the beryllium standard. For generally industry, construction and shipyards this included the permissible exposure limits. Further, in general industry enforcement began for the requirements of an exposure assessment, respiratory protection, medical surveillance and medical removal. While OSHA began enforcement of some of the these requirements…
In an April 30th memorandum to Regional Administrators, Tom Galassi (Director for OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs) announced that OSHA’s process safety management (PSM) standard, which establishes requirements for preventing or minimizing explosion hazards related to chemicals, did not apply to “retail facilities.” This had previously been at the center of debate in a 2016…
On January 9, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule adopting a comprehensive standard for exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds – a separate standard was promulgated for general industry, construction and shipyards. On May 4, 2018, OSHA issued a Direct Final Rule (DFR) regarding the beryllium standard for general…
In the last Regulatory Agenda, OSHA indicated that it was undergoing rulemaking to revise the Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses regulation promulgated under the Obama administration. Specifically, OSHA noted it was considering deleting the requirement for employers with 250 or more employees at an establishment to electronically submit its 300 Log, 301 Forms…
