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OSHA To Address Soaring Injury Rates at Healthcare Facilities

Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor reported today that “U.S. healthcare workers experienced a staggering 249 percent increase in injury and illness rates in 2020, based on employer-reported data, as they...more

OSHA ETS Stayed Again — Supreme Court Characterizes ETS as Public Health Measure Outside of OSHA’s Jurisdiction

Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court stayed enforcement of OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”), pending further litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more

FDA Grants Full Approval to the Pfizer Vaccine

Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the FDA approved Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA), previously known as Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, to prevent COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 and older. This could be big news for those on...more

OSHA Issues Updated Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace

Seyfarth Synopsis: Today OSHA updated its Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace to adopt recommendations “analogous” to the July 27, 2021 Centers for Disease Control...more

OSHA Gives Health Care Employers Green Light to Continue Permitting Facemask Exemptions, Despite New CDC Guidance

Seyfarth Synopsis: In light of rising cases of COVID-19, the CDC has recently reversed its prior facemask guidance, and has now required that both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals wear masks indoors in areas where...more

President Biden to Require Federal Workers, Contractors to Provide Vaccine Attestation or Mask, Distance, and Test Multiple Times...

Seyfarth Synopsis: President Biden recently laid out his administration’s next steps in efforts to get more Americans vaccinated. On July 29, 2021, the White House released “Remarks by President Biden Laying Out the Next...more

Time to Mask Up Again? CDC Revises Mask Guidance for Vaccinated Individuals

Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 27, 2021, the CDC revised its mask guidance in response to the burgeoning threat of the COVID-19 Delta variant, recommending that all individuals — including those who are vaccinated — wear masks...more

OSHA Revises National Emphasis Program, and Updates Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 28, 2021, OSHA published a Compliance Directive, DIR 2021-02 (CPL 02), covering inspection procedures and enforcement policies for the Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19. The new directive...more

Heat Illness and Back to Work — Summer 2021

Seyfarth Synopsis: As we approach the heat of the summer season and as employers begin to re-open after months of COVID-19 quarantine, workers may be out of shape, out of practice on workplace safety procedures, and may have...more

OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard Published on June 21, 2021

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 21, 2021, the federal register published OSHA’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (“ETS”), focused on the health care industry....more

OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard Narrowly Focused on the Health Care Sector, Guidance Updated for Other Sectors

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 9, 2021, at the tail end of prepared remarks before the House Education and Labor Committee, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced – not with a bang, but with a whimper – that OSHA would publish...more

What to Expect from OSHA in a Biden Administration

Seyfarth Synopsis: As the prospects of a likely Biden administration develop a key question becomes what should employers expect from OSHA under Biden? A COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard, aggressive enforcement, and a...more

Keep Out: How to Stop Drugs and Alcohol from Entering in the Workplace

1.  Introduction - Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, drugs and alcohol remain a significant occupational safety issue for employers across the country.  The legal environment is rapidly changing for many drugs, and additional...more

OSHA Publishes New Guidance on Use of Cloth Face Coverings and Heat Illness Prevention

Seyfarth Synopsis: In two recent guidance documents, OSHA recommends that employers encourage workers to wear cloth face coverings to reduce the spread of COVID-19. OSHA further addresses the challenges posed by cloth face...more

Cal/OSHA Cites Food Manufacturer and its Staffing Firm for Failing to Protect Hundreds of Workers from COVID-19 Exposure

Seyfarth Synopsis: Cal/OSHA, in a press release, noted that it recently issued citations to a food manufacturer and its temporary employment agency, with over $200,000 in proposed penalties to each employer for “failing to...more

Cal/OSHA Announces Citations to Multiple Employers for COVID-19 Violations

Seyfarth Synopsis: Cal/OSHA announced that it has cited eleven employers for not protecting employees from COVID-19 exposure during inspections of industries where workers have an elevated risk of exposure. The industries...more

CDC Guidance on Workplace Violence in Retail Associated with COVID-19, Customer Face Mask Enforcement

Seyfarth Synopsis: The CDC published guidance aimed at assisting retail and service companies in limiting workplace violence against or involving their employees that may be associated with enforcing face mask mandates and...more

Heat Illness – A Phantom Menace: Sweatt Blogs on Safety Measures and Heat Illness in the Workplace

Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA Administrator Loren Sweatt recently blogged related to heat illness in the workplace as “forecasters are calling for above-average heat in some parts of the country and scorching temperatures in July...more

OSHA Issues Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease

Seyfarth Synopsis: The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted an Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease (ERP). Now, as states begin reopening their economies, the...more

Cal/OSHA and Health Department Publish COVID-19 Guidance for Dine-in Restaurants

Seyfarth Synopsis: A new California State guidance provides direction for dine-in restaurants, brewpubs, craft distilleries, breweries, bars, pubs, and wineries to provide a healthy and clean environment for workers and...more

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking to Enjoin Employer to Implement Additional Safety Measures

Seyfarth Synopsis: In Rural Community Worker’s Alliance et al v. Smithfield Foods, Inc. et al., No. 5:20-cv-6063 (W.D. Mo. May 5, 2020), Western District of Missouri Judge Greg Kays granted Smithfield’s motion to dismiss...more

Heat Illness Strikes Back: Return to Work’s Untold Story

Seyfarth Synopsis: As we approach the heat of the summer season and as employers begin to re-open after months of COVID-19 quarantine, workers may be out of shape, out of practice on workplace safety procedures, and may have...more

President Issues Executive Order To Protect Continued Operation of Nation’s Meat Processors; OSHA Adopts Enforcement Discretion

Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the President issued an Executive Order under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to protect the continued operation of the nation’s meat and poultry processors during the current COVID-19...more

CDC and OSHA Issue Meat and Poultry Processing Industry COVID-19 Interim Guidance

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have jointly released coronavirus-related interim guidance for meatpacking and meat...more

Illinois Worker’s Compensation Emergency Rules Establishing Rebuttable Presumption for COVID-19 Have Been Withdrawn

Seyfarth Synopsis: After a Sangamon County Circuit Court temporarily blocked the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s (IWCC) emergency rule that created a rebuttable presumption that injured employees contracted...more

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