The Trump Administration has allocated no money to fund the Chemical Safety Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) for fiscal year 2026, directing the agency to use its emergency funds to shutter its doors by the end of fiscal year...more
OSHA just issued a heap of new proposed rules and took other agency actions as part of broader deregulatory efforts at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) – which are being called one of the most ambitious federal red tape...more
7/16/2025
/ Comment Period ,
Construction Workers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deregulation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Farm Workers ,
General Duty Clause ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor just overhauled OSHA’s penalty guidelines to give small employers and safety-conscious businesses a financial break. Effective immediately, the new policy:
- significantly increases penalty...more
The US Department of Labor just relaunched and significantly expanded its opinion letter program, offering employers across five enforcement agencies a direct line to legal interpretations of federal laws on wage and hour,...more
6/6/2025
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
Opinion Letter ,
OSHA ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
VETS ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
OSHA’s long-awaited heat illness rule could be inching closer to reality, with a public hearing that could determine its fate now scheduled for June 16. While many predicted the Trump administration would stall or shelve the...more
Even the most experienced employers are sure to have questions from time to time about the nation’s workplace safety agency – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). That’s where we come in. The Fisher...more
3/12/2025
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Citations ,
Depositions ,
Discovery ,
Electronic Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Interrogatories ,
OSHA ,
OSHRC ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Request for Admissions ,
Request for Production ,
Safety Inspections ,
Safety Violations ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is about to get a new leader. President Donald Trump has nominated David Keeling, a workplace safety veteran with experience at UPS and Amazon, to take the lead at the...more
2/20/2025
/ Electronic Reporting ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Heat Exposure ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safety Inspections ,
Safety Violations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
Employers will face higher penalties for workplace safety violations in 2025 now that the U.S. Department of Labor has just published its listing of annual increases. These yearly increases to OSHA’s maximum civil penalties...more
Recently released statistics revealed that over 250 workers in the hospitality industry were killed on the job in the most recent reporting year, demonstrating once again that employers need to take safety seriously....more
Recently released statistics revealed that working in the construction industry was once again the most dangerous occupation in the country, as over 20% of all workplace fatalities from 2023 occurred in the construction...more
Our Workplace Safety thought leaders have pulled together their top predictions for the new year so that employers can get a running start to 2025....more
1/7/2025
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Budget Cuts ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Health and Safety ,
Heat Exposure ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Safety Inspections ,
Safety Violations ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Trump Administration ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
For the very first time, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has publicized the comprehensive details on the nearly 900,000 reported workplace injuries and illnesses recorded by...more
As we close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025, one thing is clear: this has been a year like no other. From a groundbreaking Supreme Court ruling to a pivotal election result that will usher in a new administration, employers...more
12/12/2024
/ Affirmative Action ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
California ,
Car Dealerships ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Workers ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Foreign Workers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Manufacturing Employers ,
Mexico ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Professional Employer Organization ,
Retailers ,
Sports ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Student Athletes ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Secrets ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Investigations ,
Workplace Safety
Our firm’s Workplace Safety Practice Group has provided some general perspectives on what employers can expect under the next Trump administration – but it’s time for a deeper dive that OSHA and MSHA safety professionals will...more
The Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling that gives employers a powerful tool to fight back against regulatory overreach will have a broad impact on just about every area of workplace law. We’re looking at the specific...more
When are employee musculoskeletal illnesses and injuries required to be recorded and reported to federal workplace safety officials? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a new memorandum...more
Even the most experienced employers are sure to have questions from time to time about the nation’s workplace safety agency – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). That’s where we come in. The Fisher...more
2/15/2024
/ Appeals ,
Citations ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Discovery ,
Electronic Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
New Rules ,
OSHA ,
OSHRC ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Safety Inspections ,
Safety Violations ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
Through the fall of 2022, OSHA area offices in Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota will undertake the Weekend Work initiative to open workplace safety and health inspections on Saturdays and Sundays. The initiative, announced...more
Colorado recently expanded whistleblower protections at the state law level – and employers need to make sure their health and safety protocols are fully compliant if they want to avoid costly litigation. Under the new law...more
The Supreme Court blocked OSHA from enforcing the vaccine mandate-or-test ETS and the agency responded Tuesday by shelving the emergency rule altogether. In some ways, these two developments mean that the pathway for...more
The Supreme Court just blocked OSHA’s vaccine ETS from being enforced for the foreseeable future, meaning your compliance to-do list has gotten significantly shorter – but it has by no means disappeared. While today’s 6 to 3...more
In one of the more shocking developments in a year full of surprises, a federal appeals court breathed new life into the Biden administration’s mandate-or-test emergency vaccine rule with a stunning Friday afternoon decision....more
Federal workplace safety officials just released the mandate-or-test workplace vaccine emergency rule, and employers are sure to have questions. The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) developed by the Occupational Safety and...more
11/5/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joint Employers ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety
Companies concerned with the latest focal point of corporate governance are paying attention to human capital – and have started to recognize that one of the cornerstones of this initiative includes a commitment to employee...more
Both the State of Colorado and the City of Denver have recently issued mandatory vaccine policies for certain segments of worker populations – and your organization may be soon required to enforce such a mandate. While the...more
9/9/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Nursing Homes ,
Private Schools ,
Public Health ,
Public Schools ,
State Contractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety