The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has identified seven proposals the agency hopes to release as final rules before the end of the year, while the Mine Safety and Health Administration, its sister agency within the Department of Labor, plans to issue two final rules in 2016.
Articles Discussing The Federal Occupational Safety And Health Act And Other Issues Relating To Workplace Safety And Health.
Citing Mine Inspector’s ‘Animus,’ Judge Softens Tough Enforcement Action
Convinced that the tough enforcement action brought against a West Virginia coal operator by an inspector for the Mine Safety and Health Administration was influenced by a long-standing grudge the inspector held toward the operator’s foreman, a judge has reduced the seriousness of some alleged violations, thrown out others, and cut the proposed penalty by 73 percent.
Mine Safety Agency Rolls Out New Fatality Prevention Initiative
Noting that 2015 was the safest year ever in the U.S. mining industry, the Mine Safety and Health Administration nonetheless has rolled out a new safety initiative, Rules to Live By (RTLB) IV.
Alcohol-Related Workplace Injuries Recordable, OSHA Says
Employers are not exempt from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s reporting rule for on-the-job injuries linked to alcohol intoxication even though the injured employee’s consumption of alcoholic beverages took place off the job.
OSHA’s Big Pivot: How the New Electronic Recordkeeping Rule Impacts Injury Reporting, Prevention and Drug Testing Programs
OSHA’s long-awaited Final Rule on Electronic Recordkeeping is out and employers need to prepare for some significant new changes. During this webinar, our presenters will break down the rule to identify steps your company can take now to ensure compliance by the Rule’s most immediate effective date on August 10, 2016. Topics to be covered include:
OSHA Issues New Spring Regulatory Agenda
It’s that time of year again…when OSHA tells us what is on the horizon for rulemaking activity. On May 18, 2016 the spring semiannual regulatory agenda for federal agencies was published. This Regulatory Agenda provides a complete list of all regulatory actions that are under active consideration for promulgation, proposal, or review and covers regulatory actions for over 60 federal departments, agencies, and commissions.
Employers May See Higher OSHA Fines Sooner than Expected
August 1, 2016, is the effective date for imposition of higher fines by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but violations alleged in inspections occurring as recently as this February may be subject to the increased fees, according to OSHA. That is because OSHA can take as long as six months after the start of an inspection to issue citations and propose penalties.
Mine Accident Investigation Facts Not Subject to Attorney Privileges, ALJ Rules
According to at least one administrative law judge, neither the work product privilege nor the attorney-client privilege allows an Arizona metal producer and its contractor to withhold factual information gathered during the companies’ investigation of a fatal mine accident from their regulatory authority.
New OSHA Rule Requires Companies to Make Records Public
It used to be that OSHA primarily had access to a company’s OSHA logs when requested as part of an investigation. As such, OSHA, and the public, had little to no information about worker injuries and illnesses. All of that has changed now with OSHA’s new disclosure rule.
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.
What OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping Rule Means For Workplace Post-Accident Drug and Alcohol Testing
Today, OSHA’s final electronic recordkeeping rule, “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” was published in the Federal Register.
New Workplace Injuries, Illnesses Rule Mandates Electronic Information Submission, Bars Retaliation
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” its long-anticipated final rule revising its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation.
OSHA’s New Electronic Accident Reporting Rule Seeks to Dramatically Impair Post-Accident Drug and Alcohol Testing
Many thousands of employers implement post-accident drug and alcohol testing policies to promote workplace safety, as part of accident investigation efforts and in the hope of reducing workplace accidents and workers’ compensation claims. For those employers, the legal landscape may have shifted on May 12, 2016, when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its final rule on electronic reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses.1
OSHA’s Final Rule on Electronic Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses
In keeping with Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels’ promise to “shame” employers into compliance, on May 12, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its final rule on electronic reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses.1 Under this rule, OSHA will be publishing employer injury and illness records on the internet without any explanation of the facts and circumstances of the particular cases involved. Further, OSHA has changed the requirements for directing employees on reporting injuries and illnesses and assumed new authority to prosecute alleged retaliation against employees for reporting injuries and illnesses. Finally, OSHA takes the position that to ensure injury and illness reporting, employers must notify employees of their rights, and the agency must be able to police any program that might discourage reporting, such as employer safety incentive programs.
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 priority or face disclosure of workplace injuries and illnesses reported on the soon-to-be publicly-available OSHA database.