#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA Issues COVID-19 Citations, Michigan Enacts Liability Shield, and States Battle for Telecommuter Taxes - Employment Law This Week®
A recent federal appeals court ruling illustrates the risks of “single-employer” liability for OSHA citations for common business arrangements today. These involve separate companies that perform different functions but share...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
Year in and year out, the same 5 standards tend to be cited the most frequently in general industry inspections. While their placement in the Top 5 may vary from time to time, Lockout/Tagout, Hazard Communication, Respiratory...more
Many employers have a false notion that OSHA cannot issue a citation if there is no specific standard violated. The reality is, however, that OSHA has a catchall/gap filler provision that allows it to cite an employer...more
OSHA has released its “Top Ten” list of the most cited safety violations of last year. The largest number of violations were observed in the Construction Industry. The Top Ten include...more
With maximum limits for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties increasing every year, knowing what to do when OSHA arrives at your door is more important than ever. That’s why we’re releasing this...more
With maximum limits for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties increasing every year – currently over $15,000 for serious/other than serious citations and more than $150,000 for a repeat and willful –...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has initiated a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to prevent falls in the workplace, which OSHA states is the leading...more
Ogletree Deakins recently launched its OSHA Tracker, which compiles and filters inspection and citation data by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) region, state, city, industry, and date. Employers in Region...more
Workers’ Compensation law is a double-edged sword. While employers cannot avoid Comp liability based on the employee’s negligent behavior, the injured employee cannot sue the employer outside of the Comp system for damages...more
The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (NV OSHA) recently announced an increase in penalties for workplace safety violations, as well as a renewed focus on specific industries for inspections. The new...more
Ogletree Deakins’ OSHA Tracker shows that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted 988 inspections in Nevada in 2022, of which 2.5 percent resulted in citations. Reno, with twenty-seven citations,...more
The new year began with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) clearly establishing that it is focusing on enforcement in 2023. After announcing that it is expanding its instance-by-instance citation policy...more
Section 662(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) allows employees to file suit against employers seeking compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) safety standards in urgent...more
Through the first month of 2023, OSHA signaled to employers that enforcement is an agency priority and that it will use a full range of mechanisms to hold employers accountable for workplace health and safety violations....more
Federal workplace safety officials just issued a press release announcing new enforcement guidance to make its penalties more effective in, as they describe it, “stopping employers from repeatedly exposing workers to...more
Late on January 26, 2023, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a press release concerning a significant change in long-standing policy related to instance-by-instance issuance of citations that will...more
Employers may be surprised to learn that North Carolina OSHA’s maximum penalties more than doubled on October 1 — and these penalties will increase every January, starting in 2023, to match the maximum penalties available to...more
Some employers might be surprised to learn that MSHA violations are increasingly common in states not typically associated with mine safety – and that you are much more likely to be cited for certain kinds of violations...more
The short answer is the proverbial attorney response, “it depends.” Under OSHA’s multi-employer citation policy, an employer may be held responsible for the violations of other employers where it could reasonably be expected...more
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regularly issues press releases announcing citations and penalties that follow a safety inspection. But this month, OSHA issued a press release that recounted an...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a November 12th news release stating that it was proposing to assess penalties to Marc Jones Construction LLC (“MJC”) for alleged violations of federal...more
A February 2021 California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) press release trumpeted the agency’s enforcement efforts and its recently issued citations for COVID-19–related violations. Cal/OSHA continues...more