OSHA watch
Reminder: deadline for electronic illness and injury reporting approaching
Certain establishments must electronically submit information about recordable injuries and illnesses entered on their previous calendar year's Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, and 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report through the secure Injury Tracking Application (ITA). The deadline for electronically submitting is March 2. Establishments covered by an approved State Plan should directly contact their State Plan.
Penalties increase
The 2025 increases to the maximum civil penalties apply to all workplace safety citations issued after January 15, including those that were opened, but not closed by January 15. The new maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from $16,131 to $16,550 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $161,323 to $165,514 per violation. Failure to abate rose to $16,550 per day (generally limited to 30 days maximum). Companies should understand the full impact of accepting penalties without contesting them.
If you live in a state covered by a State Plan, the penalty amounts may differ.
Infectious disease regulation withdrawn; COVID-19 rulemaking terminated
The proposed rule on infectious diseases in "health care and other high-risk environments" is among the potential regulations listed as "withdrawn" on the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website. It is unclear what this means for the future. The withdrawal likely stems from an Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, which ordered rules that had been sent to the Federal Register, but not published, be withdrawn so that they can be reviewed and approved, by a department or agency head appointed or designated by the president.
Under the Biden administration, a final rule published Jan. 15 terminated its rulemaking on COVID-19 exposure in health care settings.
NEP on outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards extended
The National Emphasis Program on outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards has been extended for another year until April 8, 2026. Since initiating the NEP in April 2022, approximately 7,000 heat-related inspections have been conducted, and 60 citations issued for violations of the General Duty Clause, along with nearly 1,400 hazard alert letters.
Keith Sonderling nominated as the new deputy labor secretary
President Trump has chosen Keith Sonderling to be the new deputy labor secretary, the No. 2 spot at the Department of Labor. Sonderling served as a Republican member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from September 2020 to August 2024 and was vice chair of the commission from September 2020 to January 2021. He is known for his close relationships with the business community, his preference for deregulation, and his knowledge and interest in AI. If confirmed by the Senate, Sonderling will replace Julie Su.
New York City region renews and expands NEP on noise exposure
The emphasis program on worker exposure to noise has been renewed for all Area Offices within the New York City Regional Office. The REP, set to expire in September 2029, has added or expanded its targeted industries. New industries include:
- Dog/cat food manufacturing (3111)
- Dairy product manufacturing (3115)
- Tortilla manufacturing (31183)
- Other food manufacturing (3119)
- Tobacco manufacturing (3122)
- Apparel knitting mills (3151)
- Ethyl alcohol manufacturing (325193)
- Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing (327)
- Agricultural implement manufacturing (333111)
- Household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing (3371)
The REP has expanded to the following industries:
- Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing (3114)
- Paper manufacturing (322)
- Plastics product manufacturing (326)
- Fabricated metal product manufacturing (332)
- Transportation equipment manufacturing (336)
It remains the same for other industries not listed.
State Plans
Cal/OSHA
Civil penalties increase for 2025
On January 1, 2025, the following penalties increased:
- The maximum penalty for general and regulatory violations, including posting and recordkeeping violations, is $16,285.
- The maximum penalty for willful and repeat violations is $162,851; the minimum penalty is $11,632.
- The maximum penalty for violations classified as serious is $25,000; it did not increase.
Several alerts issued on employer responsibilities to protect workers from wildfire smoke
Employers are reminded that the Protection from Wildfire Smoke standard requires them to protect workers from unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke. Employers must monitor air quality, adjust work practices, and provide N-95 respirators for voluntary use. The standard also outlines specific training requirements. Full details, including resources in both English and Spanish, can be found at www.WildfireSmokeCalifornia.org and www.HumodeIncendios.org.
MIOSHA
Winter quarterly newsletter available
Some topics covered in the Winter 2025 newsletter include: Director's Corner: 50 Years of Advancing Workplace Safety and Health, Significant Case Study: Employer Cited After Employee Severely Injured by Saw, High-Hazard Industry: Primary Metal Manufacturing, MVPP Best Practice Highlight: The Better Way Campaign.
Top ten citations
For FY24, Control of Hazardous Energy Sources - Energy Control Procedures topped the list of citation penalties, totaling $1,012,500. The highest number of citations, 165, was for failure to comply with the written hazard communication program.
The first webinar series of 2025: Technostress
This three-part series is designed to guide managers in effectively addressing and reducing technostress, a growing concern in today's technology-driven work environments.
Part 1: Understanding Technostress and Its Impact - recording
Part 2: The Role of Organizational Leaders and HR in Mitigating Technostress
Thursday, February 20, 2:00 p.m.
Part 3: Managers and Peers as Frontline Supporters in Technostress Reduction
Thursday, March 6, 2:00 p.m.
Changes to the Challenge Program
The Michigan Challenge Program (MCP) recently underwent significant updates:
- Shorter duration: The duration was reduced from 36 to 18 months while retaining all essential components. The program evaluates three critical factors-human behavior, unsafe conditions, and overall work culture.
- Penalty Reduction Opportunity: Some employers cited for violations can join the MCP as part of a settlement agreement, potentially reducing assessed penalties.
- Instruction Upgrade: The MCP instruction has been elevated from a division-level instruction to an agency-level instruction, underscoring its importance and accessibility.
For more information, call 517-284-7720 or visit Michigan.gov/MIOSHA.
Agency Instructions Issued
Dec. 11, 2024 - Whistleblower Investigations Manual
Dec. 16, 2024 - Michigan Challenge Program (MCP)
MNOSHA
January 2025 edition of Safety Lines available
The January edition of Safety Lines, the quarterly electronic publication of the Department of Labor and Industry includes:
- OSHA 2024: The year in review in the state
- Free on-site safety and health consultations available
- Responsibility for employee health, safety on multi-employer worksites
- Pay extra attention to threat of carbon monoxide during the winter
- Arthur E. McCauley Jr. Award nominations accepted through March 3
- Fatality, serious-injury investigations summaries online
- Translated materials, webpages, Language Line available via DLI website
- Employer cited $730K for commercial diving standard violations after worker drowns during lake weed removal
- About joint labor-management safety committees
- SOII sauce: 2023 fatality estimates, injury and illness estimates released
- Improved recordkeeping, reporting standards
- Calendar of events
Grants available to start, expand apprenticeship programs
Multiple grants are available to help cover the costs of starting or expanding registered apprenticeship programs. Read more.
Recent fines and awards
California
- Safeway's Tracy Distribution Center was cited for 27 violations, including eight serious. The violations relate to manual material handling injuries, indoor heat hazards, recordkeeping, chemical hazards, electrical hazards, and training. Proposed penalties are $182,000.
Florida
- Vero Beach-based Southeast Services of the Treasure Coast Inc., a drainpipe cleaning and maintenance company, was cited for one serious violation for failing to develop and implement procedures and train workers on how to install and remove pneumatic pipe plugs safely. An explosion from a pressurized pipe resulted in the death of a worker. The company faces $16,131 in penalties.
- Mosaic Fertilizer LLC, a Mulberry phosphatic fertilizer manufacturer, faces $30,649 in penalties after a 29-year-old process operator fell into an unguarded ribbon blender and died.
Illinois
- A Zion-based contractor, Corner Construction Corp., with a long history of fall-related violations, faces $266,175 in proposed penalties for one willful, one repeat, and one serious violation. Employees were observed working without required fall protection equipment atop a residential structure in Glencoe.
Massachusetts
- A Glenburn general contractor, Patriot Paving Group LLC, faces 161,325 in fines following the crushing death of an employee when an unbraced retaining wall collapsed.
- An owner of a Medford construction company, Mauricio Baiense, Contract Framing Builders Inc., was sentenced to 18 months for tax crimes and making false statements to a federal investigator, claiming the deceased employee did not work for him.
- A Wilmington contractor, NER Construction Management Inc., faces penalties totaling $115,221 for six serious violations and one other-than-serious violation related to fall protection and scaffolding following the death of a construction worker at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston.
- The OSHRC affirmed a citation that Greg Beeche Logistics, a scaffold installation company based in Waterford, New York, had contested for erecting and using scaffolds that failed to meet federal workplace safety standards at a worksite in Boston's Post Office Square. The penalty was $6,000.
North Carolina
- Lafayette, Louisiana-based Rigid Constructors LLC. was fined $50,703 following the drowning of a heavy equipment operator at a Leland worksite. The company was cited with four serious violations, including failing to train workers on operating a marsh hoe and not providing or requiring employees to use personal protective and lifesaving equipment.
Pennsylvania
- A Chambersburg soap and detergent manufacturer, AFCO (based in Atlanta, AFCO is a subsidiary of Zep Inc.), faces $161,310 in federal penalties following a chemical gas release that sent a dozen workers to the hospital. Inspectors determined the company had taken no action to assess the impact of the release immediately, did not swiftly evacuate workers from the building, had no emergency plan, and its respiratory protection and hazard communication programs did not meet federal requirements.
- Strasburg Rail Road Co., a tourist railroad operator in Ronks, was ordered to reinstate an employee and pay $221,114 in back wages and damages whom they fired for refusing to issue locomotive and conductor licenses to an untrained and unqualified management official.