Insight & Commentary on Occupational Safety & Health Issues
California Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 1634 into law on September 20, 2014, a new bill that significantly changes an employer’s obligations to abate alleged workplace safety and health hazards in California and reduces the ability of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) to make modifications to civil penalties.
When the new …
Representative George Miller (D-CA) recently reintroduced a bill (H.R. 1649) that would provide whistleblower protections to certain workers in the offshore oil and gas industry. The bill was first introduced in 2010 and again in 2011. Continue Reading Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2013 Introduced Into the House
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) recently reintroduced a bill that would amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The proposed Protecting America’s Workers Act (“PAWA”) (S. 665) would expand coverage to more workers, increase whistleblower protections, significantly enhance the civil and criminal penalties issued against employers for violations, and would provide rights to victims…
OSHA recently issued its long-awaited regulatory agenda. The agenda is designed to provide stakeholders with notice of what major regulatory initiatives the agency is planning and the projected timetables for those initiatives.
OSHA’s agenda is the first issued in several months by the agency and provides a glimpse into the regulatory priorities – in…
Joining a growing number of states and localities across the country, Nevada has banned cell phone use while driving. Click here for the full story.
Click here to read this recent Jackson Lewis article on a new Connecticut law requiring health care employers to develop and implement plans, policies, and training programs to prevent and respond to workplace violence incidents. Putting aside the issue of whether such a law is preempted by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, health…
OSHA is 40 this year and the Agency is looking back on its history and "celebrating" its accomplishments. OSHA recently issued a timeline that stretches all the way back to December 29, 1970, when the Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed, and highlights Agency accomplishments up to the present.
Not surprisingly, the timeline is heavily…
A new state law makes it easier for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to classify workplace safety violations as “serious” for purposes of issuing citations and proposed penalties to employers. Assembly Bill 2774, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2010, broadens the definition of “serious violation” and establishes specific procedures for Cal/OSHA…
On Wednesday, July 21, the House Education and Labor Committee approved "H.R. 5663, The Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act." While this bill is primarily focused on overhauling mine safety laws, one section would make drastic changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Act. If enacted, these changes will have a significant impact on employers across the country.…
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has signed into law the “Possession of Firearms and Ammunition in Locked Vehicles Law.” The law bars employers from adopting any rule or policy prohibiting employees, including contract employees, from storing firearms and ammunition out-of-sight in their locked vehicles. Effective July 1, 2010, the law applies only to persons who may…
