OSHA Enforcement Heats Up

OSHA officials have been busy as the weather heats up and spring turned to summer. On May 20, 2016, OSHA cited BC Stucco and Stone, a construction company in Darby, Pennsylvania, for one serious violation and three willful violations. The investigation dated back to November 25, 2015 when an OSHA compliance officer observed an employee working eighteen feet above ground on a scaffold without fall protection. The proposed penalties are $93,000. BS Stucco had also been previously cited on May 2, 2016 at their…
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OSHA Adds Chapter on Fall Protection to its Technical Manual

The OSHA Technical Manual (OTM) provides information about workplace hazards and controls to OSHA’s Compliance Safety and Health Officers. The OTM is based upon currently available research, publications, OSHA Standards, and consensus standards. OSHA is adding a new chapter on fall protection to its OTM. Chapter 4, entitled “Fall Protection in Construction,” provides technical information about fall hazards and protection methods. The information is intended to help prepare OSHA compliance officers to conduct inspections and investigations. A review of Chapter 4 indicates that OSHA addresses…
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OSHA’s New Reporting Rule Dabbles With Behavioral Economics to Incentivize Workplace Safety

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a new rule that applies behavioral economics to incentivize workplace safety. The new rule requires electronic submission of workplace injury and illness reports in order to better inform workers, employers and the general public about workplace hazards. OSHA representatives remark that such a policy can be analogized to restaurant grading based on sanitation whereby restaurants must comply with kitchen cleanliness guidelines or suffer public disclosure of violations. Similarly, employers must make workplace safety a…
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A Whistleblower on OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program

Darrell Whitman is a former attorney and professor who became an Office of Whistleblower Protection Programs (OWPP) investigator in 2010. Whitman was a GS-12 Regional Investigator for OWPP, the U.S. Department of Labor, and OSHA. In 2011, Whitman and several other investigators began challenging abuses of power in OWPP’s Region 9 offices in San Francisco. They began voicing their concerns through internal union grievance procedures, and then began raising concerns to the OWPP Director and then Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. The group accused officials…
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OSHA Announces Sweeping Changes in Final Rule on Silica

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released its final rule on occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica. This is the first time OSHA has updated this rule since 1971. In updating the rule, OSHA has lowered the permissible exposure limit (PEL), as well as included requirements for exposure assessment, methods for controlling exposure, respiratory protection, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping. OSHA presents the rule as two standards, one for general industry and maritime and the other for construction. Both standards are scheduled…
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Stepped-Up DOJ Enforcement Signals Intent to Increase Criminal Prosecution of Workplace Safety Violations

Companies who have in the past considered OSHA penalties as a mere cost of doing business and not a significant deterrent should rethink their position and revamp their compliance programs based on recent steps taken by the Department of Justice (DOJ) which heighten the risk of non-compliance. The potential for criminal enforcement of workplace safety violations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act has, in the past, not carried much of a deterrent effect because OSHA violations are classified as misdemeanors and were not frequently…
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OSHA Report Analyzes First Year of New Reporting Requirements

In late 2014, many employers learned about the new OSHA injury and illness reporting requirements that were to go into effect as of Jan. 1, 2015. Under the new requirements, employers were required to report all work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye within 24 hours of finding out about the incident. (Under the old rule, employers had the same reporting requirement for fatalities, but were only required to report in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees
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Employers Must Post Summaries of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

Employers are required to post a copy of OSHA’s Form 300A between February 1, 2016 and April 30, 2016. This form summarizes the job-related injuries and illnesses employees experienced during 2015. The summary must be posted in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted each year. Information contained on the summary includes the total number of deaths, injuries, poisonings, respiratory conditions, skin disorders, instances of hearing loss, and other illnesses experienced by the employees. Notably, businesses with ten or fewer employees and…
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The Beryllium Equilibrium: OSHA Schedules Public Hearing on Proposed Rule Intended to Significantly Limit Worker Exposure to Beryllium

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration scheduled a hearing on February 29, 2016 in Washington D.C. to discuss its proposed rule governing occupational exposure limits for beryllium and beryllium compounds.  The proposed rule, which was published on August 7, 2015, would significantly lower workplace exposure to the chemical. OSHA’s present standard permits worker beryllium exposure to 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air over eight hours.  This standard was initially implemented by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948 and later adopted by OSHA in 1971. …
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Groundbreaking OSHA Developments in 2015 to Directly Impact 2016 — and Beyond

As is often the case, the year’s end signals an opportunity to look back and reflect on significant developments that have occurred, to turn one’s attention forward – and to think ahead. This annual focus can relate to almost anything, including politics, entertainment, your health, your family, and yes – even the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Now that 2016 is in full swing, we can see that 2015 was a groundbreaking year for OSHA. During that time, OSHA unveiled significant changes to some…
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