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A Decatur, Alabama, manufacturer of GE appliances faces $193,585 in proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties after a frontline supervisor’s death, the agency announced January 17. The 58-year-old supervisor suffered fatal injuries while trying to service a door molding machine. Agency inspectors found the company allowed workers to bypass the machine’s safety doors […]
Under the Biden administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued five National Emphasis Programs (NEPs) since 2021. Because OSHA doesn’t have the personnel to inspect every workplace in America, NEPs, along with Local and Regional Emphasis Programs (LEPs, REPs), enable the agency to focus its enforcement resources. Starting in July 2021, the […]
On May 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) of outreach and enforcement for falls from height across all industries. OSHA’s construction industry fall protection standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1926.501) remains the agency’s most frequently cited standard, cited 5,260 times in fiscal year (FY) 2022. […]
With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Outdoor and Indoor Related Hazards being effective as of April 8, 2022, employers are advised to take note of the program’s instructions to avoid “largely preventable” heat-related illnesses. “Despite widespread under-reporting, 43 workers died from heat illness in 2019, and at least […]
In response to a rise in trenching and excavation fatalities—22 workers have suffered fatal injuries in trenching and excavation work so far this year, surpassing the 15 fatalities in all of 2021—the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced plans for 1,000 excavation inspections. The 22 deaths represent a 68% increase over 2021. Agency compliance […]
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regional offices in Boston and Dallas have publicly cautioned employers within the past week to protect workers from the hazards of excessive heat. OSHA’s efforts in the past year to address workplace heat hazards have included a national emphasis program (NEP) of outreach, inspection, and enforcement, as well as […]
On March 12, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP), focusing enforcement on companies at which large numbers of workers face serious risk of COVID-19 infections. The NEP also prioritizes whistleblower protection enforcement for workers who face retaliation for reporting unsafe or unhealthy workplace conditions.
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’s (OSHA) Region 3 office announced it would extend enforcement of a national emphasis program (NEP) in three states and the District of Columbia to reduce or eliminate workers’ respirable silica exposures. Emphasis program inspections begin after May 3 in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
On February 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised its National Emphasis Program (NEP) for enforcement of the construction, general, and maritime industry standards for respirable crystalline silica exposure. OSHA canceled the 2008 Crystalline Silica NEP in October 2017. The replacement NEP addresses enforcement of OSHA’s amended standards for respirable crystalline silica—promulgated March […]