OSHA Enforcement

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In a case of first impression, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has established a three-part test for employers claiming third-party safety and health audits protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege. Applying underlying legal principles of privilege to the technical area of safety and health assessments, the Commission has set forth steps that all…

Facing charges of ineffectiveness and an overall failure to protect Nevada workers, Nevada OSHA, has come under fire recently from both the media and the federal government. In response, Nevada OSHA has effected changes to its investigative practices that could spell trouble for unwary and unprepared employers.

As reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal…

In response to external and internal reviews of the operation and effectiveness of OSHA’s Whistleblower Protecton Program, OSHA has announced significant changes in how the Agency runs the program.  OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of 21 different statutes, including Section 11(c) of the OSH Act and other workplace and environmental safety and health laws.

The significant changes…

OSHA has announced that it will give employers in residential construction an additional three months to come into compliance with its new fall protection directive.  OSHA published the new directive on December 16, 2010 and originally gave employers until June 16, 2011 to ensure their fall protection practices were compliant.  The three month extension, according to OSHA…

An OSHA compliance directive requiring contractors performing residential construction comply with the residential fall protection standard will take effect as scheduled on June 16, 2011. The Standard (29 C.F.R. § 1926.501(b)(13), Duty to Have Fall Protection) generally requires that guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems be used on residential jobsites that are more than six…

In a much anticipated decision, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (Commission) has ruled that OSHA can enforce its requirement for employers to record work-related injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 Log even when the employer’s duty to record the injuries and illnesses occurred more than six months before the issuance of the citation.  The…

OSHA’s new Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry (CPL 02-01-050) has been “on the street” for a few weeks and employers are still working through its details. While employers need to go through the directive carefully on their own and incorporate the aspects of the directive that are applicable to their facilities, after…

OSHA has established new procedures for enforcing its personal protective equipment (PPE) standards in general industry.  The compliance directive "provides general guidance for the enforcement of standards applicable to personal protective equipment (PPE) in general industry, including guidance on payment for PPE."  The new procedures became effective on February 10, 2011.

The directive provides useful information to employers to help them…

Citing "concerns raised" and the need for "more public outreach," OSHA is withdrawing its  proposed interpretation on occupational noise.  The proposal would have altered existing Agency enforcement policy for determining when an employer could utilize PPE to protect employees from noise exposures, as opposed to relying on engineering and administrative controls.  Existing policy provides that…