OSHA watch
COVID-19 new resources
- A new FAQ webpage is grouped by topic and covers:
- General Information
- Cleaning and Disinfection
- Construction
- Cloth Face Coverings
- Employer Requirements
- Healthcare
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Restrooms and Handwashing Facilities
- Retaliation
- Return to Work
- Testing for COVID-19
- Training
- Worker Protection Concerns
- Guidelines for oil and gas workers and employers
- Meatpacking worker safety poster now available in 17 languages.
- Wallet card for agricultural workers.
- Public service audio announcements in English and Spanish, as well as bilingual digital and print billboard messaging, are being used to encourage employees to report their concerns about workplace safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Guidance and resources from state OSHA programs
- Virginia created COVID-19 emergency workplace standard, the first state to adopt an enforceable workplace safety standard. Considered to be the most comprehensive protection in the country, it mandates and, in some instances, exceeds the non-mandatory guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and OSHA.
- Michigan publishes guidance for office workers.
- California's governor released a playbook to help protect the state's frontline workers from COVID-19 and aid employers in reopening their businesses on July 24. The statement also noted that the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has stepped up targeted investigations of high-risk industries that have seen the highest levels of COVID-19 outbreaks and that the agency intends to work with the legislature to require employers to report outbreaks to local health departments to track transmission.
Beryllium Standard revised for clarification
A final rule revising the beryllium standard for general industry includes changes to five definitions and the addition of one definition - beryllium sensitization. Additional revisions include methods of compliance, personal protective clothing and equipment, hygiene areas and practices, housekeeping, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping. A new Appendix A is "designed to supplement the final standard's definition of beryllium work area. Changes to the standard are detailed in Section XI, Summary and Explanation of the Final Rule. The compliance date of the final standard to September 14, 2020.
Spring 2020 regulatory agenda
Three items moved off the previous agenda's long-term actions: post-incident drug testing and incentive programs, fit requirements for personal protective equipment in construction, and procedures for handling retaliation complaints under the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. The latter item is listed in the final rule stage, with an interim final rule scheduled for November, while the others are in the proposed rule stage.
Also in the final rule stage is a standard for handling retaliation complaints under whistleblower protection statutes and changes to the beryllium rules for the construction and shipyard industries. Two items remained in final rule stage from the Fall 2019 agenda:
- Exposure to Beryllium to Review General Industry Provisions
- Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Exemption Expansions for Railroad Roadway Work
One new proposed rule involves medical removal protections for OSHA's silica regulations. Three other regulations moved from pre-rule to proposed rule:
- A Lockout/Tagout Update
- Powered Industrial Truck Design Standard Update
- Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica; Revisions to Table 1 in the Standard for Construction
Notably, an infectious disease standard remains a "long-term action."
Employers' injury, illness data to be made public
The Public Citizen Foundation recently won a Freedom of Information lawsuit regarding the controversial electronic record keeping rule and the data of 237,000 employers must be turned over to the Foundation by August 18, 2020.
Employers reminded of their duty to protect workers from dangers of heat exposure
While there is no federal heat stress standard (California and Washington state have one and Minnesota has one pertaining to indoor facilities), there is guidance on heat stress and violations are enforced under the General Duty Clause and other related standards.
National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction rescheduled
The event will be held Sept. 14-18 to correspond with Construction Safety Week.
Revised rule concerning agency access to employee medical records
The Rules of Agency Practice and Procedure Concerning Occupational Safety and Health Administration Access to Employee Medical Records describes internal procedures that agency personnel must follow when obtaining and using personally-identifiable employee medical information.
Recent fines and awards
California
- JHOS Logistics and Transportation Inc. was ordered to reinstate an employee terminated for refusing to drive what the employee reasonably believed to be an overweight vehicle at the company's Wilmington facility. The company must pay more than $190,000 in back wages, $25,000 in punitive damages, $5,000 in compensatory damages, and attorney's fees.
Florida
- Inspected under the Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction, a roofing contractor, Camaney Services of Central Florida Inc., based in Lake Worth, was cited for exposing employees to fall hazards at two worksites in Boynton Beach. The contractor faces $49,930 in penalties.
- The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered coercive sanctions against the owner of two Jacksonville-based contractors, Great White Construction Inc. and Florida Roofing Experts, after finding them in contempt of court for failing to pay $2,202,049 in penalties.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) reversed a finding that a fatal accident could have been avoided involving pile-driving work during a bridge project. In Secretary of Labor v. The Lane Construction Corp, the construction company was found to have violated the general duty clause, however, the OSHRC found insufficient evidence for the finding.
Georgia
- Southern Wood Components LLC, based in Moultrie, was cited for exposing employees to hazardous energy and caught-by hazards after an employee fatality at the company's sawmill. The wood product manufacturer faces $55,326 in penalties.
- Inspected as a result of a fatal trench collapse and under the National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation, Triple S Communications Inc. was cited for violations of the trenching and excavation standards. The Moultrie telecommunications installation contractor faces $58,025 in penalties.
Illinois
- American candy manufacturer Ferrara Candy Company was cited for multiple violations after an employee had to have a fingertip amputated and another got caught in a machine. Many violations related to energized electrical equipment and lockout tagout. The company was fined $485,008 in penalties and placed in the Severe Violator Program.
Missouri
- Unnerstall Contracting Company LLC was cited for violations of trenching and excavation standards after an employee suffered severe injuries when a 20-foot trench collapsed during excavation of Creve Coeur Sanitary Sewer Trunk in Creve Coeur. The Pacific-based company faces three willful and four serious violations, with penalties of $224,459. It also was placed in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
New York
- Although it initially contested the citations after an employee suffered a hand amputation, U.S. Nonwovens Corp., a home and personal care fabric products manufacturer based in Long Island, has agreed to address and correct hazards at their five manufacturing facilities in New York, and pay $200,000 in penalties to resolve safety violations.
- An administrative law judge of the OSHRC upheld citations and penalties against Timberline Hardwood Floors LLC, a custom hardwood-flooring manufacturer that falsely claimed to have corrected previously cited hazards. The judge's decision also orders the company to pay $166,265 in penalties for all violations. Timberline's predecessor entity, Timberline Hardwood Dimensions Inc., was cited for failing to train forklift operators adequately, and develop and implement lockout/tagout, and hearing conservation and chemical hazard communication programs at the Fulton plant. At that time, Thomas Vavra, a co-owner of both the predecessor and the current company, signed abatement certifications declaring the company had corrected those violations.