As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in many parts of the U.S., a growing number of states and municipalities have implemented orders requiring the use of masks in public. Last week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health...more
Last week, the North Carolina General Assembly approved legislation intended to provide individuals and businesses across the state with protection from lawsuits alleging acts or omissions leading to COVID-19 infections. If...more
As businesses reopen following the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns, employers are implementing a range of measures intended to minimize the risk of workplace spread of the virus, including cleaning, social distancing, and...more
Many employers have received employee concerns about potential exposure to the coronavirus in the workplace. Employees may express their general reluctance to return to the workplace or may ask why an employer is not...more
Last Friday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the latest in a series of technical guidance documents for restaurants. The guidance provides advice for minimizing the potential for COVID-19 infections...more
This week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration began issuing a series of safety alerts aimed at specific industries and their workers’ potential exposure to COVID-19. The first alerts cover the retail,...more
4/28/2020
/ Construction Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Essential Workers ,
Manufacturers ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
OSHA ,
Retailers ,
Safety Standards ,
Workplace Safety
Last Friday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued interim guidance advising employers under which circumstances they must consider employee COVID-19 diagnoses as recordable workplace illnesses. In general,...more
Under Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, employers must maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses. If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, under what circumstances should the...more
It will surprise no one to learn that our employment attorneys have spent much of the last two weeks answering questions about the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace. Among other questions, employers want to know their...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Act generally requires employers to mitigate exposure of their own employees to workplace hazards. In limited circumstances, companies can be cited for OSHA violations even if the only...more
Over the past several weeks, we have had questions from employers asking about employees’ concerns over exposure to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). At first, most of these questions involved employee concerns over travel...more
Most employers know that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can assess civil penalties for violation of safety standards. However, they may not be aware that the OSH Act also contains criminal penalties. ...more
When cited for violation of OSHA safety rules, employers can assert an “unpreventable employee misconduct” defense. This defense claims that the employee knew that he or she should safely engage in the work activity, yet...more
North Carolina’s Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) prohibits employers from taking retaliatory action against employees on the basis of workers’ compensation, OSHA, wage and hour, and other state labor law...more
7/22/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
OSHA ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Employee falls and other construction hazards continue as a primary source of North Carolina workplace injuries and deaths. Several years ago, North Carolina OSHA increased its citation of general contractors for unsafe work...more
5/22/2019
/ Citations ,
Construction Accidents ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Site ,
General Contractors ,
OSHA ,
Safety Violations ,
Subcontractors ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Act prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who report workplace injuries to OSHA. On March 1, OSHA filed a lawsuit against a Massachusetts construction company whose CEO...more
On January 25, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued final regulations that roll back an Obama-era proposal that would have required large employers to submit extensive...more
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, companies are responsible for preventing their employees from being exposed to safety violations. For years, OSHA has also asserted that a company can be held responsible for...more
During the Obama presidency, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued interpretation memoranda that called into question the legality of common employer programs intended to reduce accident rates. This...more
Most prosecutors will tell you that the cover-up is often worse than the underlying crime. This adage was again proven correct earlier this month when OSHA announced that the U.S. Department of Justice had obtained federal...more
At the end of each federal fiscal year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration releases a list of the 10 most frequently cited safety standards violations. This year’s list was issued on October 23 and contains the...more
Occupational Safety and Health Administration workplace inspections are often triggered by an employee injury or complaint. In such circumstances, OSHA rules only permit the inspector to investigate the workplace safety...more
10/17/2018
/ Chemicals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Manufacturers ,
Motions to Quash ,
OSHA ,
Probable Cause ,
Safety Inspections ,
Search Warrant ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
In addition to OSHA rules, many safety-sensitive businesses use ANSI or other standards organizations’ guidelines to develop their safety programs. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals last month affirmed a criminal conviction and $500,000 penalty assessed against a construction company accused of failing to follow fall protection rules, leading to the death of an...more
In 2016, the Obama administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued regulations requiring certain companies to electronically file annual employee occupational illness and injury information. This...more