Federal OSHA (“Fed OSHA”) has long had a Severe Violators Enforcement Program (“SVEP”), intended to target employers who demonstrate “indifference to their OSH Act obligations by willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate...more
In June 2021, the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“Fed OSHA”) enacted a COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) governing the health care industry. The ETS had a...more
In a 6-3 decision issued very soon after the January 7, 2022 oral argument last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and reinstated the stay of enforcement against...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In a specially scheduled oral argument today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two issues involving the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”). One issue pertained to the merits of the appeal and whether the OSHA ETS was...more
Following the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel handing down a split decision reinstating the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) vaccination mandate, numerous emergency applications were filed with...more
With the enforcement of the Federal OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) on hold pending consolidated review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after multiple legal challenges and a temporary...more
Yesterday, November 16, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (the “Panel”) held a lottery to select the federal appeals court to address the 34 petitions seeking review of the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing...more
11/18/2021
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Injunctions ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Suspensions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On Monday, November 8, 2021, Snell & Wilmer published a Legal Alert explaining that, on November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans granted a stay and suspended the federal OSHA emergency temporary...more
On Friday, November 5, Snell & Wilmer published a Legal Alert regarding the provisions and effective dates of the federal OSHA Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS"). In that Legal Alert, we noted that...more
Almost two months after President Biden’s announcement of his administration’s mandatory vaccination plan, yesterday, November 4, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published its...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
OSHA ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Frustrated with a lagging rate of vaccinations, the Biden Administration decided to get out the stick since the carrot has not improved the vaccination rates to the levels that it wants to see. The Department of Labor,...more
9/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) issues and proposed actions took center stage in the first week of the Biden Administration. The President called for greater enforcement by OSHA of more stringent worker...more
Employers considering whether to distribute any type of face mask in the workplace should know the potential occupational safety and health implications. OSHA’s respiratory protection standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.134, governs...more
OSHA recently provided a reminder (through its website) to employers on recording of workplace exposures associated with COVID-19 (https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html). The current pandemic does not alter the...more
This week, the World Health Organization upgraded the global risk of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) to “very high” with over 83,000 cases being confirmed, including dozens in the United States. Employers are grappling with...more
3/3/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety
Construction accidents are inevitable, even for clients who implement and enforce a meticulous safety plan on a project. Despite best intentions and protections afforded to contractors, employees, subcontractors, vendors and...more
By the actions of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Federal OSHA), today the Arizona-specific residential fall protection statute has been repealed. Effective tomorrow, February 7, 2015, Arizona...more