Insight & Commentary on Occupational Safety & Health Issues
In a newly released letter of interpretation, OSHA has concluded that "therapeutic exercise" recommended by a health care professional in response to minor work-related "pain" constitutes medical treatment under OSHA’s recordkeeping rule.
OSHA was asked whether exercises recommended for a short period of time by an on-site health care professional when an employee is experiencing minor…
OSHA announced today that it will be holding a series of three teleconferences, in partnership with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, on OSHA’s proposed musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) column rule. The teleconferences are designed to provide small businesses the opportunity to weigh-in on "their experiences in recording work-related MSDs and how they believe the proposed rule would…
The Department of Labor has just announced that OSHA is temporarily withdrawing from review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) its proposed rule to restore a column for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) on employer injury and illness logs.
The rule, originally proposed last year, would have required employers to “check a box” in a separate column on the…
On December 20, 2010, OSHA released its fall regulatory agenda, which sets forth the Agency’s current rulemaking priorities. Over the last several months OSHA has been emphasizing the need to push forward on several regulatory inititatives. OSHA rulemaking, however, can be painstakingly slow, and OSHA’s fall regulatory agenda reflects that.
Of particular note, the issuance of…
After issuing a flurry of new enforcement initiatives earlier in the year, such as the Severe Violator Enforcement Program and its memorandum administratively increasing civil penalties, OSHA seems to have shifted its focus a little back toward its regulatory program. OSHA rulemaking often proceeds at a glacial pace, but in the last few months the Agency has issued two…
OSHA has just announced that it is extending by 15 days the public comment period for its proposal to add a separate column on the OSHA 300 log for employers to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Those wishing to comment on the proposed rule must now do so by March 30, 2010. Four separate stakeholders had requested…
In a move sure to be viewed by some as a prelude to a new ergonomics rulemaking, OSHA has proposed adding a separate column on the OSHA 300 log for employers to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). (The initial 2001 recordkeeping final rule had included an MSD column, but OSHA later deleted that column before…
