OSHA watch
Draft of permanent COVID-19 standard for healthcare workers submitted to OMB
The long-awaited draft of the permanent COVID-19 standard for healthcare workers was submitted to the OMB for final review on Dec. 7, 2022. The timeline for completion of the review is unclear and the draft is not yet available to the public.
Form 300A posting deadline: February 1, 2023
The annual summary of injuries and illnesses recorded on OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, must be posted where notices are customarily located in workplaces, no later than February 1, 2023, and kept in place until April 30. (For more information see article, OSHA recordkeeping deadlines looming: five reasons to get it right)
Six Amazon warehouses cited for recordkeeping violations
Following referrals from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, inspections were opened in July at Amazon locations in Deltona, Florida, Waukegan, Illinois, and New Windsor, New York; and in August at locations in Aurora, Colorado, Nampa, Idaho, and Castleton, New York. Fourteen recordkeeping violations were issued, including failing to record injuries and illnesses, misclassifying injuries and illnesses, not recording injuries and illnesses within the required time, and not providing timely injury and illness records. Proposed penalties are $29,008. The investigations are ongoing, but citations must be issued within six months of inspection.
State OSHA
Cal/OSHA adopts the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations
On December 15, 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted 6-1 to adopt the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations. The Non-Emergency Rule will replace the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. Once approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), these regulations will take effect sometime in January 2023 and will remain in effect for two years after the effective date, except for the recordkeeping requirements that will remain in effect for three years. While the Non-Emergency Regulations include some of the same requirements found in the COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), they are less burdensome for employers. Employers can compare the non-emergency regulations with the emergency temporary standard (ETS).
North Carolina OSHA penalties to rise again
Tucked deep into the state budget signed in July 2022 was a provision that more than doubled maximum penalties for violations on October 1, 2022. The Appropriations Act required that the minimum and maximum civil penalties reflect federal levels, so employers face another increase this month when federal OSHA raises penalties based on a cost-of-living adjustment for inflation. The Appropriations Act also aligned the timeframe to issue citations with the federal standard of six months after an inspection is opened. Previously it had six months to issue citations from the date the agency knew or should have known of the hazard.
Recent fines and awards
Georgia
- Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC facilities at Thomasville were cited for two repeat violations of blocking an electrical panel and the store's only emergency exit. The company has a long history of violations, reflected in the high cost of proposed penalties - $290,054.
- The parent company of a Family Dollar store in Richmond Hill, Dollar Tree Stores Inc., was cited for exposing workers to fire, entrapment, and struck-by hazards. Citations for four repeat violations and $364,645 in penalties were issued.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) vacated a citation to ACrane Rental LLC related to a fatality when a worker fell from a crane platform. OSHRC determined that ACrane was not a controlling employer at the time of the accident and was not the employer of the exposed workers at the job site.
Illinois
- Dollar Tree Stores Inc.was cited for exposing workers in Matteson to the risks of unsafely stored and stacked boxes of merchandise and blocked electrical panels. The three repeat violations resulted in proposed penalties of $364,661.
Wisconsin
- Inspected in response to a hospitalization report, Kewaunee Fabrications LLC, a heavy fabrication manufacturing company, received one willful and 11 serious citations for violations of the machine guarding and control of hazardous energy standards. Proposed penalties are $250,696.