Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
As today’s workplace becomes more complex, regulation of that workplace increases. In this section, you’ll find the practical advice you need to understand exactly what OSHA, other federal agencies, and their state counterparts, require of you, and to comply in the ways that best satisfy both your and their needs. Look also for important court decisions, advice on how to handle enforcement actions, and news of upcoming changes in workplace health and safety law.
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On March 12, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to protect workers at high risk of contracting the coronavirus. The NEP was launched in response to a January 21, 2021, Executive Order from President Joe Biden.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) unveiled a preliminary list of its top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year (FY) 2020 during a webinar with the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Safety+Health magazine.
Reduced Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic left U.S. workers’ safety at increased risk, the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) concluded in its audit of the agency.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) cited additional employers for failing to protect employees from COVID-19 exposures, including a Los Angeles garment manufacturing company facing $102,550 in proposed penalties. California is one of a handful of states that established an emergency temporary standard (ETS) last year for workplace COVID-19 exposures.
Several people, including one carrying a firearm, recently blocked the entrance of a Florence, Oregon, restaurant and threatened Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Oregon OSHA) compliance officers investigating violations of the state’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), according to the agency.
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) announced it had cited several more employers for failing to protect employees from COVID-19. Michigan was one of a handful of states that established emergency temporary standards (ETSs) last fall for workplace COVID-19 exposures.
In December 2020, the EPA issued an Enforcement Alert regarding aftermarket defeat devices that “bypass or render inoperative required emissions control systems, resulting in significant increases in harmful air emissions” from motor vehicles and nonroad equipment.
On February 12, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited an Oak Grove, Missouri, plumbing contractor for two repeated and two serious violations of the agency’s trenching standards. The agency proposed penalties totaling $299,590 for Arrow Plumbing LLC.
In a move welcomed by many, the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) is back as part of settlement agreements in federal environmental enforcement cases.
On February 5, 2021, the EPA posted updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for its Audit Policy, formally titled “Incentives for Self- Policing: Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and Prevention of Violations.” This policy provides incentives, such as penalty waivers, for regulated entities to prevent, discover, disclose, and correct environmental violations on a voluntary basis.