OSHA’s Guide To Restroom Access for Transgender Workers

OSHA’s recent publication of its Guide to Restroom Access for Transgender Workers (“Guide”) further forged OSHA’s foray into the spotlight of the hotly prolific LBGT rights discussion. The Guide, which aims to assure that employers provide a safe and healthful working environment for all employees, underscores the principle that “all employees should have access to restrooms that correspond to their gender identity,” according to Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Under OSHA’s Sanitation Standard (1910.141), employers are required…
Continue reading...

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…
Continue reading...

OSHA Tasked by Congress to Protect Whistleblowers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been tasked by Congress to enforce the whistleblower provisions of 22 different statutes. These laws protect workers in many industries throughout the country from retaliation when they report unsafe working conditions, fraud or something that would endanger the public. The Department of Labor is reporting that since 2009 the number of new whistleblower cases has grown by 37 percent. The Federal government has responded to this increase by providing additional resources in the fiscal 2015 budget. With these…
Continue reading...