Insight & Commentary on Occupational Safety & Health Issues
On November 20, 2015 the fall semiannual regulatory agenda for federal agencies was published. This Regulatory Agenda provides a complete list of all regulatory actions that are under active consideration for promulgation, proposal, or review and covers regulatory actions for over 60 federal departments, agencies, and commissions.
The regulatory agenda for the Department of Labor…
Season 1, Episode 3- 3 mins 16 sec
Listen to this brief podcast to find out the estimated dates for OSHA’s final rules on crystalline silica and electronic recordkeeping.
If you have issues trying to play this file, right click on the link and choose “save target as” and save the file locally (such…
Season 1, Episode 2- 8 mins 54 sec
This podcast covers two major developments in workplace safety health and law:
1). OSHA is increasing employer penalties for the first time in 25 years.
2). OSHA’s proposed electronic recordkeeping rule is almost final.
Be sure to listen to this quick podcast to find out the latest…
Recognizing that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, OSHA introduced last week its draft document, “Protecting Whistleblowers: Recommended Practices for Employers for Preventing and Addressing Retaliation” (available here). In the draft document, OSHA identifies these five key steps to creating an effective anti-retaliation program:
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On October 5, 2015, OSHA submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a draft final rule for OSHA’s “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses.” OIRA is the division within the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that reviews draft and final standards and regulations. Under Executive Order, all significant regulatory…
Many more franchisors are likely to be judged to have a joint employer relationship with franchisees, subjecting them to enforcement by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, under a draft policy reported to be circulating within the Department of Labor (DOL). To read the full article, written by Tressi Cordaro, click here.
In what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration described as a collaboration among government, industry, and organized labor, the safety agency has proposed a comprehensive rule to reduce exposure to beryllium among employees in general industry. Read more.
In 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that OSHA could not issue citations for failing to record an injury or illness beyond the six-month statute of limitations set out in the statute. AKM LLC d/b/a Volks Constructors v. Sec’y of Labor, 675 F.3d 752 (D.C. Cir. 2012).
Unhappy with…
OSHA recently issued an internal memorandum outlining enforcement guidance for some of the 2012 Hazard Communication Standard’s (HCS) requirements effective on June 1, 2015—namely, the requirement that chemical manufacturers, importers and distributors must develop and use safety data sheets (SDSs) and labels for their chemical mixtures that align with the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. The policy provided in the memorandum will not exceed two years.
This memorandum appears to be in response to concerns raised by several trade groups that they needed until June 2017 to comply with the SDS and labeling requirements because they had not received classification and SDS information from upstream suppliers of raw materials in enough time to meet the current deadline. While it denied the trade groups’ petition to formally modify the compliance date, OSHA indicates in the February 9, 2015 memorandum that it will not issue a citation against manufacturers, importer or distributors if they have exercised “reasonable diligence” and “good faith” to classify and label their chemical mixtures in accordance with the 2012 HCS requirements and if the mixture’s material safety data sheets and labels comply with the 1994 HCS requirements.
Whether the manufacturer, importer, or distributor exercised reasonable diligence and good faith will be determined by the compliance officers and their supervisors, after considering a host of factors designed to ensure that they attempted to meet the June 1, 2015 effective date.
Continue Reading OSHA Issues Enforcement Guidance for Hazard Communication Standard
In a press release issued September 11, 2014, OSHA announced the final rule for Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements. For Federal Plan States, the regulation will come into effect on January 1, 2015; State Plan States will announce their dates independently but are encouraged to meet the same deadline. This regulation brings …
