The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a final rule to restore and expand Obama-era requirements for employers in dozens of designated industries that have worksites with at least 100 employees...more
Employers can breathe a sigh of relief for now as it appears that Senate Democrats are no longer pursuing a massive increase to OSHA’s penalties for safety violations. Currently, the maximum fine OSHA can assess against an...more
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.” The Guidance incorporates much of...more
2/4/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sanitation ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Workplace Safety
As directed by President Joe Biden’s Executive Order issued on January 21, 2021 requiring the Federal Government to take swift action to protect workers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health...more
After Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act in 2015, it has now become an annual requirement for the U.S. Department of Labor to adjust civil penalty amounts for the various...more
As part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic in workplaces, OSHA continues to issue alerts and guidance designed to keep workers safe. The most recent guidance issued by OSHA deals with ventilation...more
Meat processing and packing facilities around the United States have emerged as hotspots for COVID-19. While handling and processing meat and poultry does not expose workers to coronavirus, close contact with coworkers and...more
On April 16, 2020, OSHA issued an Enforcement Memorandum directed to Regional Administrators and State Plan Designees giving them Discretion in Enforcement when Considering an Employer’s Good Faith Efforts During the...more
In light of the ongoing safety concerns related to COVID-19, OSHA issued an alert identifying various voluntary safety measures that employers can take to keep package delivery workers safe from exposure to coronavirus. ...more
In a Final Rule published by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) on April 9, 2018, the agency amended certain changes made to the Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines final rule which was...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is reviewing OSHA’s use of the general duty clause to issue citations against employers for heat-related hazards that are likely to cause death or serious bodily...more
In response to requests from the public, on March 26, 2018 the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) announced that it is reopening the public comment period to the Agency’s request for information (RFI) related to...more
On February 22, 2018, the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) announced that it would be instituting a new Mobile Inspection Application System (Mobile IAS) to improve and further enhance the efficiency and...more
Although the Department of Labor under new Labor Secretary Alex Acosta has indicated that it will be scaling back on the broad interpretation of joint employer for purposes of determining enforcement liability, on November 6,...more
On September 12, 2017, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published two proposed rules seeking to further amend the Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines final rule which was published on...more
After a crane operator suffered serious injuries earlier this year while attempting to stow the crane’s lattice extension, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a serious accident alert for crane...more
Recent coal-mining deaths have prompted the Mine Safety and Health Administration to launch a voluntary “training assistance initiative” for miners with less than one year of experience in mining or in their current job, MSHA...more
OSHA outlined employer responsibilities for keeping young workers safe, noting, “Young workers are those new to the workforce, even up to age 24. Young workers can be an asset to your workforce. However, it may be their first...more
On April 19, 2017, the Department of Industrial Relations for the State of California issued an important update to Cal/OSHA’s new Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction. The standard is substantially...more
After the deaths of 29 miners over the past decade from falls in metal and nonmetal mines, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a safety alert on reducing the risk of dangerous falls, reminding employers of...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced the results of its monthly special impact inspections from December 2016. During the month, MSHA conducted inspections at 10 coal mines and...more
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued an advisory warning to mine operators and employees about the dangers of hand injuries.
The agency said that from January 1, 2010, through August 31, 2016, there were...more