Deadly Incident Shows Importance of Addressing OSHA Citations Regarding Process Safety Management

OSHA recently investigated a DuPont facility after four workers were killed by the release of a lethal gas. OSHA cited DuPont for 11 safety violations and fined them $99,000. Nine of these violations were classified as “serious” (OSHA defines a serious violation as when the workplace hazard could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm), while one was a repeat violation. A DuPont worker was overcome by the release of methyl mercaptan gas after she opened…
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OSHA Releases Hospital Respiratory Protection Program Toolkit

Most people associate the name OSHA with safety standards for the protection of workers in construction and manufacturing settings. OSHA, however, is not so limited, as demonstrated by its recently released Hospital Respiratory Protection Program Toolkit, which is designed to help hospitals and other health care employers protect their staff from respiratory hazards. The toolkit was a joint effort of OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. It is an outgrowth of a California-specific guide issued in May 2012. The toolkit…
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OSHA Issues Final Rule to Increase Protections Afforded to Construction Workers in Confined Spaces

Working in confined spaces exposes construction workers to many hazards, including asphyxiation, explosions, electrocutions and toxic substances. Until recently OSHA had one provision in its construction standards setting forth a general training requirement when employees worked in confined spaces. This provision (29 CFR 1926.21(b)(6)) provided limited guidance, instructing employers to train employees as to the nature of the hazards involved, the necessary precautions to be taken and in the use of required protective emergency equipment. On May 1, 2015, OSHA announced a new “final rule”…
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OSHA Seeking Input On Communication Tower Construction and Maintenance Safety

towerOSHA has recently announced that it will be collecting information about the hazards faced by workers during the construction and maintenance of communication towers. With the rapid expansion of wireless communication over the past few decades, there has been an increasing demand for both constructing new communication towers and maintaining those already in service. These jobs can require workers to regularly climb as high as 2000 feet. Working at such great heights naturally presents the risk of not only falling, but also exposure to electrical…
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OSHA Citation to General Contractor Underscores the Need for Proper Equipment and Safety and Health Programs

OSHA recently cited a Florida general contractor – retained to restore the concrete finish on high-rise apartment buildings – for 17 “serious” safety and health violations and proposed penalties of $119,000. (A “serious” violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.) The inspection was initiated after OSHA received complaints alleging fall hazards at two work sites. OSHA charges that the company exposed workers to falls of…
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Upstream Oil, Gas Hazards Added to OSHA Severe Violator Program as “High-Emphasis Hazards”

According to a recently issued OSHA memorandum, over twenty years’ worth of statistics show that upstream oil and gas production operations are plagued by fatalities at a rate five to eight times greater than the national average. Based on these alarming statistics, OSHA implemented a new policy under its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (“SVEP”) captured by Instruction CPL 02-00-149 Section XI, which endeavors to curb industry fatalities. The memorandum concerning this new SVEP Section was quietly issued to field officials and attorneys at a recent…
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OSHA Updates its Guidelines for Protecting Workers from Workplace Violence

Healthcare and social service workers face significant risks of job-related violence and it is OSHA’s stated mission to help employers address these serious hazards. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 23,000 significant injuries due to assault at work occurred in 2013. Notably, more than 70 percent of these assaults were in the healthcare and social service sectors. Workers in these areas are reportedly more than 4 times as likely to be injured due to violence in the workplace than the average private…
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Roofing Contractor’s Failure to Respond to OSHA Citations Could Send Contractor to Jail

In December 2011, a Maine roofing contractor was directed by federal court order to correct violations associated with 11 different OSHA citations and to pay $404,000 in fines and interest that had been imposed previously over the period 2000 to 2011. The 11 citations related to 11 different work sites, and the contractor not only never responded to the initial citations but also never corrected the underlying safety conditions or paid the assessed fines after the citations had turned into final orders. Now, the contractor…
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Updates and Studies: Top OSHA-Related News for the Week

The following are highlights of the OSHA-related news for the week: …
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U.S. Department of Labor Files OSHA Whistleblower Suit in New York Federal Court

OSHA is responsible for enforcing the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and twenty-one other statutes which are designed to protect employees who report violations of various laws in a broad variety of areas. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the U.S. Department of Labor is authorized to file suit against employers who retaliate against whistleblower employees. The U.S. Department of Labor has recently commenced such a whistleblower action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New…
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