The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a three-year national emphasis program permitting extensive inspections of warehousing and distribution center operations, mail/postal processing and...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) successfully established the existence of an excessive heat hazard for which the agency cited the employer, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC)...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has made clear that heat illness is a top priority, and the forthcoming heat exposure standard is certain to affect construction firms....more
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has partially reopened the record on the rulemaking for the permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard, known as the rule on “Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare...more
3/30/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Nurses ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Writ of Mandamus
With its new inspection initiative, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is taking steps to ensure certain healthcare employers continue to protect workers against COVID-19, even as falling case numbers...more
On April 4, 2022, a merits panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on a petition seeking to force OSHA to issue a permanent standard for healthcare occupational exposure to COVID-19 and to...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled expedited arguments on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s decision to lift the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has lifted the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 vaccination and testing for...more
Less than two months after receiving direction from President Joe Biden, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) covering employers with at least 100...more
11/4/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Documentation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Joe Biden ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
Many states have Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-approved workplace safety and health programs (OSHA State Plans) and enjoy enforcement autonomy over workplace safety and health in those states,...more
A Congressional committee has approved maximum penalties of $700,000 per item for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.
The move would mean more than a fivefold increase of maximum...more
On September 9, 2021, the White House issued Path Out of the Pandemic: President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan (the Plan). The Plan outlines a six-pronged approach, portions of which will impose new obligations on employers...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its COVID-19 guidance for non-healthcare employers, Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace, on August...more
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (UFCW), and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) have filed a petition for review of OSHA’s recent...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recent Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19 (Response Plan) was issued on the same day it announced its National Emphasis Program (NEP)...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19 (Response Plan) to regional administrator and state plan designees on March 12, 2021. Although not...more
4/2/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
General Duty Clause ,
Hospitals ,
Inspections ,
Masks ,
NEP ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Workplace Safety
The country begins the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic with optimism because of three Emergency Use Authorization vaccines and President Joe Biden’s direction that all states make all adults eligible for vaccination by...more
3/24/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Caregivers ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
General Duty Clause ,
GINA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoffs ,
OSHA ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Quarantine ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Criticizing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) enforcement efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General (OIG) pushes for a COVID-19, virus-specific...more
3/5/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
General Duty Clause ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Inspections ,
Inspector General ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retailers ,
Safety Standards ,
Workplace Safety
Long-term care facilities have been hit hard by COVID-19. As we approach the one-year anniversary of this national emergency, many facilities have grown accustomed to the additional reporting and scrutiny. However, this...more
As the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) turned 50 in December 2020, the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) issued “OSHA’s Next 50 Years: Legislating a Private Right of Action to Empower Workers,” in which it...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) kicked off the new year with a friendly reminder that covered employers must electronically submit Form 300A data for calendar year 2020 between January 2, 2021 and...more