OSHA watch
NEP launched to combat exposure to indoor and outdoor extreme heat
With the new National Emphasis Program, more heat-related workplace inspections will be conducted. See first article, OSHA launches NEP on indoor, outdoor heat hazards, for details.
Region V webinar series on preventing heat illness
A free, three-part webinar series is being offered to employers. These training sessions offer critical guidance on how to identify heat stress, how it affects the human body, and how to prevent it on the job.
Enforcement effort to identify employers who do not submit Form 300A data
Annual electronic submissions are required by establishments with 250 or more employees currently required to keep injury and illness records, and establishments with 20-249 employees classified in specific industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses. The enforcement effort aims to identify employers that failed to submit Form 300A data through the ITA by matching newly opened inspections against a list of potential non-responders. For the nation's largest employers, the 2021 submitted data is being used to identify non-responders at a corporate-wide level.
By mid-March, 289,849 establishments had submitted their OSHA Form 300A information and ITA data has been posted.
Local Emphasis Program initiated in Wisconsin for food processing plants
Because food production workers in Wisconsin experience a nearly 24 percent higher injury rate than workers in other production facilities in the state, a Local Emphasis Program (LEP) is underway to better protect workers from amputations and machine hazards. The initial phase, which began April 19, includes outreach to affected organizations and presentations to industry organizations and stakeholders. Following the three-month outreach, select food industry employers with injury rates higher than the national average can be targeted for inspection.
REP to target silica hazards in cut stone in Region 8
Beginning May 17, a new Regional Emphasis Program (REP) will go into effect in Colorado, Montana, North and South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The program will focus on getting employers in the industry to follow required safety standards and alert workers to silica hazards. In addition, the REP will address struck-by and crushing hazards associated with the handling of granite, marble, limestone, slate, and other stone slab.
NIOSH reminds employers of annual inspection requirements for lockout/tagout
NIOSH is reminding employers that OSHA's standard on lockout/tagout (1910.147) requires them to conduct an inspection of written hazardous power management procedures no less than every year. A NIOSH guidance document features recent case studies that detail separate workplace fatalities related to improper lockout/tagout processes.
Process begins to revoke Arizona State Plan
A proposed rule to initiate the process of revoking the Arizona State Plan was published in the April 21 Federal Register, noting Arizona's "pattern of failures to adopt and enforce standards and enforcement policies at least as effective." There will be a 35-day comment period and, if necessary, an online hearing at 10 a.m. Eastern on Aug. 16.
State OSHA
Cal/OSHA
- California's third readoption of COVID-19 emergency rule took effect May 6
Effective from May 6 to December 31, 2022, this third readoption continues to place significant obligations on employers, including the obligation to pay "exclusion pay" to employees who have been excluded from the workplace as a COVID-19 case or a close contact.
For more information, see the second article, Recent developments on two hot issues in Workers Compensation: Drug testing for marijuana and COVID-19.
- Reminds employers to protect outdoor workers from heat illness, wildfire smoke
The press release outlines the heat illness prevention requirements and the wildfire smoke requirements.
MIOSHA
- Refreshed website
As part of a broader State of Michigan effort to modernize its website content management system, a refreshed website was recently launched.
- Five ways to submit abatement, including email
MIOSHA's General Industry Safety and Health Division (GISHD) is now able to receive abatement from employers via e-mail. All citations issued by GISHD are required to have proof that the firm has made corrections or eliminated the cited hazard unless the hazard was corrected at the time of the inspection. A recent article (.pdf) in the eNews explains the ways to submit abatement information.
Recent fines and awards
California
- A San Jose trucking company, Transdev Services Inc., was ordered to pay more than $145,000 in back wages and damages after a federal whistleblower investigation found the company retaliated against two workers who refused to drive commercial motor vehicles when they felt too sick or fatigued to drive safely.
- The Labor Commissioner's Office has fined three staffing agencies and two meat- processing companies a combined $3.8 million for failure to inform 3,476 temporary workers of their available COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave-Viking Staffing CA LLC, Human Bees Inc., Marcos Renteria Ag Services Inc., Foster Farms LLC, and Foster Poultry Farms.
- For a current list of COVID-19 related violations.
Florida
- A Clearwater construction contractor, Archer Western - De Moya JV II, faces $60,084 in penalties after a worker suffered a fatal injury while cutting concrete piles inside a trench. The citations included exposing workers to struck-by and crushed-by hazards, allowing workers to remain in a crane load's danger zone, failing to properly train employees, and using a wire rope sling with damaged capacity information tags.
Illinois
- At the Romeoville facility of Hearthside Food Solutions, Inc. a maintenance employee suffered the amputation of one finger and the partial amputation of another while troubleshooting a carton-closing machine. The company was cited for the 20th time in five years and faces proposed penalties of $231,625 for one serious, one repeated, and one willful violation for failing to use lockout/tagout procedures to control hazardous energy sources.
- A Waukegan contractor with a history of violating federal safety standards and ignoring safety citations was cited again for exposing workers to deadly fall hazards at two separate job sites within 10 days. Joshua Herion, who does business as ECS Roofing Professionals Inc., faces proposed penalties of $360,531.
- A Hazard Alert Letter was sent to Amazon, requiring the online retailer to review its severe weather emergency procedures after six contractors were fatally injured and another severely injured when a tornado struck Amazon's Edwardsville warehouse in December 2021.
Maine
- A roofing and siding contractor, ARP Renovation LLC/A.R.P. Roofing & Siding LLC, was cited for willfully exposing its employees to fall hazards at a Hampden residential construction site on multiple occasions during the same inspection and faces penalties of $501,376. When the owner refused to correct the hazard, inspectors took the rare step of posting an imminent danger notice.
Missouri
- Central Paper Stock, Inc., a St. Louis recycling facility was cited for exposing workers to fall and machine hazards following a worker's fatal crushing injuries. The company received one willful, 21 serious, and two other-than-serious safety violations with proposed penalties of $260,508 and was placed in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
- The Blue Springs company, Arrow Plumbing, and its owner were cited for four willful violations, one repeated violation, and seven serious violations when inspectors found employees exposed to cave-in hazards in an unprotected trench. The company had been cited in 2016 following a worker's death and faces $796,817 in penalties.
Tennessee
- Seven Little Caesars franchises face a total of $161,050 in penalties for child labor violations that include safety hazard standards violations.
Wisconsin
- Crystal Finishing Systems Inc. was cited after an employee at the Weston aluminum extrusion facility was hospitalized with serious injuries after being struck by a puller machine while trying to unjam a piece of aluminum. The company was cited for one serious and two repeated violations and proposed penalties of $159,522 for machine guarding hazards.