Seyfarth Synopsis: Recent data continues to show material disparities in serious injury and fatality rates among employees of differing races or ethnicities, with African-Americans and Hispanics showing considerably higher...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With a larger base of compliance officers, OSHA has significantly increased its ability to conduct on-site inspections and reorient its enforcement strategies....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA is beginning to review work related stress as a workplace hazard falling under its jurisdiction....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The National Safety Council (NSC) released an update to its annual list of OSHA’s top-ten cited standards. The list provides a starting point for employers to review their own safety programs on an annual...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With Hurricane Ian drenching the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Atlantic coastal states, employers are facing daunting emergencies, safety and health risks, property damage, employee disruption, and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: While completing the healthcare COVID-19 standard continues to be the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s top rulemaking priority, Doug Parker, U.S. DOL’s Assistant Secretary of Labor for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA’s Region III issued a Regional Emphasis Program (REP) instruction (CPL 2022-01 (CPL 4)) for Warehousing Operations, that went into effect on August 3, 2022 and “establishes policies and strategies to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA is highlighting trenching hazards, and their potentially-dire consequences, on its homepage. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA is highlighting those employed through staffing agencies, generally called temporary or supplied workers, on its homepage. “Temporary workers” are workers supplied to a host employer and paid by a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Safety and health management systems (SHMSs) may demonstrate a commitment to improving safety and health outcomes, and reduce legal liabilities....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: NIOSH reports in its recent Science Blog that “falls are the leading cause of death among construction workers.”...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With 2021’s record-breaking temperatures and diminished air quality from wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon OSHA and Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (“L&I”) have released permanent...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In U.S. Dep’t of Labor v. Tampa Elec. Co., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit used common sense and reason to find the word “uncontrolled” is unambiguous and not open to interpretation –...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 28, 2022, OSHA announced publication of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”) regarding potential revisions to the Agency’s lead standards, lowering permissible blood lead levels....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: We recently blogged that Silica is the New Asbestos: New OSHA Regional Emphasis Program Will Target Respirable Silica Hazards in Six States. Now the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On May 25, 2022, Douglas Parker, Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Federal OSHA is rolling out an aggressive COVID-19 enforcement program to inspect “high hazard” employers, as well as re-inspect those healthcare employers who have received COVID-19 complaints in the past....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A manufacturer was issued a “willful citation” for failure to correct a machine guarding deficiency identified in a previous audit....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a new journal article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Bacterial Special Pathogens Branch, researchers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has developed a new Regional Emphasis Program (REP) to identify and reduce hazards in the cut stone and stone products industry, which OSHA alleges to have the highest documented overexposures to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposal to reconsider or revoke Arizona’s State OSHA plan, which may lead to federal OSHA takeover regulation of private employers in the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a National Emphasis Program to protect “millions of workers from heat illness and injuries. Through the program, OSHA will conduct...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drowsy driving is not just a major problem in the United States, it is a public health crisis. “Drowsy driving is the dangerous combination...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As we previously blogged, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to expand requirements for employers to submit OSHA forms via its Injury Tracking...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has reopened its rulemaking record and scheduled an informal public hearing to seek comments on specific topics that relate to the...more