On June 15, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision limiting the reach of the emergency response provisions of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.120, the Occupational Safety and Health...more
On May 9 and 10, 2022, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Oregon OSHA) adopted final rules on heat illness and wildfire smoke.
The Oregon OSHA Final Heat Illness Prevention Standard -
Oregon...more
Just in time for the hotter weather of spring and summer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a new national emphasis program on April 8, 2022, to help prevent heat-related illnesses.
The...more
The recent spike in inflation has now caused a 6.2 percent rise in penalties for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and other labor laws.
On January 14, 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health...more
On January 21, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued an executive order requiring the federal government to take “swift action” to protect U.S. workplaces from the COVID-19 pandemic. He ordered the U.S. Occupational...more
On September 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a new series of answers to its “COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) guidance relating to an...more
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has withdrawn from its website - without public explanation - a controversial interpretation of its requirement to report in-patient hospitalizations of employees...more
On July 15, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a new interpretation of the hospitalization reporting requirement of 29 C.F.R. § 1904.39(b)(6), one that states...more
An administrative law judge of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission held this week that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had failed to show that a document the agency used...more
On May 27, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its guidance for employers performing construction work of all types. The agency’s guidance is not a standard or regulation, so it is not...more
The debate has raged for years. Is there a six-foot rule triggering fall protection requirements when an employee is within six feet of an unprotected edge?...more
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a series of tips tailored to construction work to help reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
In addition to encouraging workers to stay...more
On April 10, 2020, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued interim enforcement guidance for recording cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) under the agency’s recordkeeping regulation at 29...more
After relaxing enforcement on the use of expired N95 respirators and on their extended use and reuse, late on April 3, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Enforcement Guidance for Use of...more
An employer who requires or permits employees to work from their homes has limited responsibilities for the safety and health of the employee’s working conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently issued a decision that should be of concern to every employer and safety professional. The case involved an employer that had ambitious but...more
3/6/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
General Duty Clause ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
OSHA ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Statutory Violations ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
Judges often advise appellate lawyers to provide in their briefs a clear path to the outcome they want. The Supreme Court of the United States recently denied review in a case that exemplified that lesson yet again....more
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) adopted regulations on February 21, 2020, under the Clean Air Act requiring the reporting of certain accidental releases. Their purpose is to enable the CSB to...more
Not so long ago, federal courts began to hold that a federal statute of limitations did not run until the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of his or her claim. This is commonly called the “discovery rule.” The...more
Employers consider many factors when choosing whether to challenge investigatory subpoenas. They now have an additional consideration: whether a court might grant the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) more...more
The justices of the Supreme Court of the United States have again limited the reach of Chevron deference. On May 28, 2019, the Court in Smith v. Berryhill carved another exception into what has lately proven to be its...more
6/3/2019
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Chevron Deference ,
Congressional Intent ,
Disability Benefits ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion for Reconsideration ,
Reversal ,
Reviewability Determinations ,
Right To Appeal ,
SCOTUS ,
Smith v Berryhill ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
Social Security Administration Appeals Council ,
Time-Barred Claims
On September 28, 2018, the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) agreed with Ogletree Deakins’ argument that that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) standard requiring...more
Chevron deference is increasingly coming under fire from the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. That came through loud and clear in Pereira v. Sessions, issued on June 21, 2018....more
6/26/2018
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Board of Immigration Appeals ,
Chevron Deference ,
Non-Permanent Residents ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pereira v Sessions ,
Removal Proceedings ,
Residence Status ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission that the former practice of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of having its staff employees appoint...more
6/22/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Officers of the United States ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Special Trial Judges (STJs)
The decision this week of the Supreme Court of the United States in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis will likely prove important on issues other than the arbitration of labor disputes. An extended passage in the opinion...more
5/24/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Chevron Deference ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
OSHRC ,
SCOTUS