Advocates of ramped-up enforcement are pushing again to revise the Occupational Safety and Health Act, with a goal of increasing penalties and widening OSHA’s jurisdiction. The bill, introduced late last month in the Senate, would: Increase the maximum penalty for …
Multi-tasking has evolved from a talent to a necessity to maintain the pace of everyday productivity. Whether an employee is talking on a cell phone while working, or not wearing his or her personal protective equipment, many workers have placed …
OSHA can no longer issue citations alleging violations more than six months old. That is the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued Feb. 27 in a case called Gabelli v. SEC. Although the case dealt directly with the …
A federal appeals court has loosened one of the traditional standards of proof required for OSHA to issue a violation, potentially increasing vulnerability for employers. The case involved a citation against an employer for failure to properly barricade the swing …
Leadership changes have been taking place all over the executive branch of government as President Obama begins his second term, but one place where the top ranks will remain the same is OSHA. The Small Business Administration reported on its …
OSHA citations come and go, but the agency’s news releases never die – even when they announce alleged violations at companies who are eventually found not to be in violation of OSHA regulations. The barrage of news releases the agency …
It is no secret that drug and alcohol abuse are among the biggest causes of workplace accidents. Drug testing in turn can be one of the best ways to combat this problem. In fact, among companies that initiated drug testing, …
As I recently wrote, one of the best ways OSHA could help improve safety would be to update its own regulations, some of which are decades out of date. But there’s another serious problem: regulations that have never made it …
What’s the difference between a willful OSHA violation and a serious one? One answer: About $63,000 in penalties – the maximum for a violation classified as serious is $7,000, while the maximum for a willful violation is $70,000. With multiple …
OSHA has drawn the ire of eight members of Congress who are objecting to what they say was “improper rulemaking” in requiring flame-resistant clothing to be worn in almost all servicing of oil and gas wells. The issue goes back …