OSHA watch
New NEP on falls
Effective May 1, the new National Emphasis Program on falls begins with a 90-day outreach and programmed inspections will follow on or around July 30. See second article in this Advisory, OSHA targets fall hazards in new National Emphasis Program, for details.
New small business handbook
Self-inspection checklists for ergonomics, young workers, workplace violence, and infection control have been added to the OSHA/NIOSH Small Business Safety and Health Handbook. The revised handbook features checklists on a wide variety of topics, including electrical safety, emergency planning, fire safety, hazard communication, heat illness prevention, noise exposure, and fall protection. It also details how to implement a safety and health program and the value of having a program in place.
Mental Health at work initiative
The DOL launched a new webpage promoting tools and resources to reduce stigma and increase awareness of mental health and well-being within workplaces, promote best practices and compliance by employers, and encourage mental health equity and access. As part of this initiative, OSHA offers a workplace stress toolkit for employers with guidance, training, real-world solutions, and outreach materials, including getting started guides for managers and front-line supervisors.
New videos - ladder safety, N95 respirators
Input sought on leading indicators
A notice announcing the intent to develop a Leading Indicators Resource that can be used by employers to help develop or improve their safety and health management system encourages input from employers on how leading indicators are being used and their impact on safety and health management systems. The notice poses a series of questions for employers to address. Comments and attachments, identified by Docket No. OSHA-2023-0006, must be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, by July 17, 2023.
Reminder of resources for hurricane and flood cleanup and recovery
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects 12 to 17 named storms and five to nine hurricanes this year, with one to four major hurricanes. Employers are reminded of the Worker Safety and Health Resources for Hurricane and Flood Cleanup and Recovery.
MSHA safety alert on longwalls
In response to more than 500 incidents on longwalls in underground coal mines over the past decade, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued a safety alert.
State OSHA
Cal/OSHA
MIOSHA
- Launched an online payment system for those who received a final determination or final order from the board.
- Agency instruction on Multi-Employer Worksites
- Public hearing on General Industry Safety Standard Part 73. Fire Brigades, June 14
- Webinar recordings
Mental Health
Domestic Violence
NC OSHA
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a company linked to a fatal 2020 paper mill fire in Canton can proceed with its lawsuit against two top N.C. Labor Department officials. The lawsuit contends that the officials could not legally issue the citations, which totaled $112,000, because they maintained a practice of employee performance evaluation that violated the federal OSH Act. Federal law forbids State Plans from evaluating safety and health inspectors on the results of enforcement activities such as the number of citations issued or penalties assessed.
Recent fines and awards
Georgia
- Following a referral from the Georgia Poison Center, which had found workers with elevated levels of arsenic, inspections were opened at Arch Wood Protection Inc, a Conley wood treatment chemical manufacturing facility, and its facility maintenance contractor, Mullins Mechanical & Welding LLC of Carrollton. Arch Wood Protection was cited with nine serious violations totaling $124,780 in penalties, which they are contesting. Mullins faces four serious violations, totaling $53,574.
- The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a workplace safety citation issued to online pet supply retailer Chewy Inc. following a warehouse worker's forklift fatality in December 2018. The citation was issued under the General Duty clause because the existing forklift standard did not prevent the cause of the accident - under-rides (when the rear part of a forklift is short enough to pass under shelves). Chewy argued and the court agreed that it could not be held liable under the general duty clause since it complied with a specific forklift standard designed to protect against under-ride hazards.
Illinois
- The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has declared Joshua Herion, and his Waukegan-based company, ECS Roofing Professionals Inc., in default after failing to properly address workplace safety violations, assessing full financial penalties against the company of $360,531.
New Jersey
- United Hospital Supply Corp. in Burlington was investigated after an employee on the first day of his job suffered the amputation of three fingers while operating a press brake without required safety guards. The company was cited for three willful violations, 17 serious violations, and one other-than-serious violation with proposed $498,464 in penalties. Based on the willful violations and similar violations in the past, the company was placed in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
Wisconsin
- Inspections were conducted at nine Dollar General Stores in Maine, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The workplace safety failures identified in these inspections add $3.4 million in proposed penalties to the more than $21 million in fines the company has received since 2017. Responding to a complaint of unsafe working conditions, investigators discovered exit routes, fire extinguishers, and electrical panels blocked by unsafely stacked merchandise and other material at the Kewaunee store and proposed penalties of $367,216.