OSHA Rulemaking

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” was published in the Federal Register on November 8, 2013.  The proposed rule amends the recordkeeping regulations to add three new requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information to OSHA.  In addition, OSHA will publicly post the electronically-submitted injury and illness information on its website and may create a searchable online database.  Employers and the public will have until February 6, 2014, to submit written comments on the proposed rule.   

The proposed rule does not expand coverage of the recordkeeping requirements or change the information that an employer is currently required to collect and maintain under 29 C.F.R. Part 1904.  Only those employers, who are already required to keep injury and illness records, will be subject to the new electronic-submission requirements discussed below.  Thus, employers with 10 or fewer employees or establishments in certain low-hazard industries, such as finance, insurance, retail, or real estate, are not subject to the new electronic requirements unless OSHA informs them in writing to keep such records and electronically submit them.   
Continue Reading OSHA’s Proposed Electronic Recordkeeping Rule

Silica (quartz) is one of the most common minerals on earth and contained in or critical to the production or manufacturing of an endless array of products and industries, like electronics, concrete, glass, brick, foundries, oil and gas, transportation and construction.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a rule that would cut…

Under the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress gave the FAA six months to issue a policy statement outlining those instances where OSHA could exercise jurisdiction over the safety and health of flight attendants. PL 112-95, Feb. 14, 2012, 126 STAT. 135.

On August 27, 2013, the FAA issued a …

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposal to comprehensively regulate silica (quartz) in general industry, maritime, and construction is anticipated by Labor Day. Publication of the proposal to extensively regulate one of the most common minerals on Earth, like arsenic and lead, will trigger a public comment period and hearings.
 
The proposed rule, which…

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a proposed rule on respirator certification fees on March 27, 2013.  HHS proposed increasing the fees for respirator certifications issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (“NIOSH”), and proposed creating a mechanism for routinely updating the fees in the future.  The proposed fee structure is designed to enable NIOSH to fully recover its costs in certifying, testing and inspecting respirators. The current fees have remained unchanged since 1972.
 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) require employers to supply NIOSH-certified respirators to their employees whenever the use of respirators is required.  A NIOSH certificate of approval allows a respirator manufacturer the ability to sell its NIOSH-approved respirators to businesses or industries that require the use of respirators by their employees. Continue Reading Department of Health and Human Services Proposes to Increase Respirator Certification Fees

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…

With the presidential election just a few days away, there is a lot of uncertainty on the future direction of OSHA.  If President Obama wins a second term, employers should expect to see a more active OSHA from the regulatory perspective, as many rules that could impact the employers are poised to be published in…

It has been approximately two years since the Department of Labor announced its “Plan/Prevent/Protect” compliance strategy, with the basic goal to “ensure employers and other regulated entities are in full compliance with the law every day, not just when Department inspectors come calling.”  We thought that it would be interesting to take a quick look…