Category: Federal
Solicitor’s Office: ‘Economic Realities’ Key OSHA Test Of Joint Employer Status
Labor Department lawyers have drafted a policy for OSHA to determine whether a joint employer relationship exists between franchisors and franchisees that includes several key tests, including an analysis of “economic realities,” according to an internal document obtained by Inside OSHA Online. The draft policy…
Judge Blasts ‘Reckless’ OSHA Action, Overturns Citations Against Maritime Firm
A judge in throwing out OSHA’s citations against a Texas shipbreaking operation criticized the agency in unusually strong language as he reversed the penalties, finding agency officials had acted “recklessly” by misrepresenting their intent to abide by an agreed-upon 60-day abatement period stemming from an…
OSHA Reaches Landmark Settlement With Nursing Care Center On Safe Patient Handling
OSHA has landed a significant agreement with an Ohio nursing care facility that stipulates new policies and procedures for safe lifting and repositioning of residents — a step forward in the agency’s efforts to tackle the growing issue of ergonomics in health care through enforcement…
OSHA Hits Companies With Large Fines Over Asbestos, Makes Cross-Agency Referrals
OSHA signaled a willingness to take tough enforcement action and widely publicize alleged willful infractions of the agency’s asbestos standards, hitting two Illinois construction companies and a manager with nearly $2 million in proposed fines, alleging numerous violations of the longstanding regulations. One of the…
ExxonMobil Fire Leads To Heavy Cal/OSHA Fines, Deeper Scrutiny Of Refinery Safety
Cal/OSHA hit ExxonMobil with more than $566,000 in proposed fines stemming from the February blast at the company’s Torrance, CA, facility that injured four workers, an incident that sparked renewed national attention to refinery safety and that led the state to form a task force…
Contractors To White House: Back Off On Orders Like ‘Safe Workplaces’ Screening
Several groups of federal contractors banded together early this month to tell the White House that President Obama should refrain in the “foreseeable future” from issuing executive orders that could negatively impact contractors, just as the administration rolls out a new policy requiring agencies to…
OSHA Poised To Unveil Beryllium Proposed Rule, Likely Limited To General Industry
OSHA reportedly is set to release on Thursday a long-anticipated proposed rule tackling worker exposures to beryllium, a standard that sources tell Inside OSHA Online has been crafted only to apply to general industry and not to the construction and maritime sectors, where the metal…
OSHA Pursues Tough Policy On ‘Willful’ Report Violations, Cites Maximum Penalty In TX Case
OSHA delivered a clear message to employers Wednesday (July 22) that it will aggressively enforce new worker hospitalization reporting rules by determining if employers willfully flouted the law and potentially hitting them with egregious citations, holding up a recent Texas case charging that a company…
OSHA Planned Rule Aims To Surmount Court Decision Over Time Limits On Recordkeeping Citations
OSHA plans through a newly proposed rule — which sources say will almost certainly be disputed — to overcome a key federal appeals court decision three years ago that killed a longtime agency policy stance that inaccurate OSHA logs continued to violate recordkeeping regulations every…
OSHA Warns Employers Of Potential Eyewash Station Water Contamination
OSHA is lodging concern about the safety of water used in emergency eyewash stations, noting the possibility of numerous infections that can result from using contaminated water and raising the possibility that the issue will be increasingly scrutinized by compliance officers, and specifically citing voluntary…
OSHA Backtracks On Medical Tape As Medical Treatment After Pressure From Sports Trainers
OSHA has reversed an earlier policy that classified the use of kinesiology tape as an OSHA recordable medical treatment, deciding instead that it qualifies as first aid — backing down after agreeing to the sports training industry’s request to review information about how the medical…
OSHA Clarifies Several Aspects Of Hazcom Enforcement, But Policy Details Draw Concern
OSHA’s newly produced enforcement policy for the 2012 update to hazard communication (hazcom) standards makes several strides in clarifying for both field staff and affected employers the circumstances under which alleged violations of the rule could be cited, sources say, but industries are concerned about…
