On October 11, 2018, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a memorandum clarifying its position regarding safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing.
Two years ago, in October 2016, OSHA issued a memorandum that prohibited drug testing employees who reported injuries or illness unless there was an “objectively reasonable basis” for doing so.
Thanks to a recent federal appellate court decision, OSHA now has even more leeway to issue costly repeat citations to employers. As many employers know, there are different classifications for civil violations of OSHA regulations, including other-than-serious, serious, repeat, and willful. Penalties, both monetary and non-monetary, increase with higher classification levels. OSHA recently increased the
At this year’s National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo in Indianapolis, OSHA’s Deputy Director of Enforcement Programs announced its preliminary list of the top ten citations issued for fiscal year 2017. OSHA’s top 10 violations for 2017 are as follows:
On January 13, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Recommended Practices for Anti-Retaliation Programs, which are intended to allow employees to raise safety issues arising in the workplace without fear of retaliation. The 12-page document sets forth recommendations that apply to private and public employees protected by the more than twenty (20)
On November 28, 2016, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied industry employers’ efforts to enjoin OSHA from beginning to enforce portions of OSHA’s May 2016 final rule that purports to prohibit, among other things: 1)
On October 28, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States said that it would decide whether the Obama Administration’s interpretation of Title IX as requiring schools to allow students to utilize restrooms that correspond to their gender identities is proper. The case of Gloucester County School Board v. GG, involves the claims of a
Rule Also Has Potential Ramifications for Employers’ Post-Accident Drug-Testing Policies
OSHA recently released its Final Rule on the electronic recording and submission of injury and illness records. The Rule has several important provisions of which employers need to be aware, as well as some potential ramifications to long-standing employer practices.
Here are the basic requirements
On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act (the “Act”) of 2015 into law. P.L. 114-74. The Act changes the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, enacted at 28 U.S.C. §2461. These little-noticed changes have huge ramifications because they specifically remove OSHA from the list of agencies that are exempt
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (also known as Ebola or EVD) has caused significant concerns for Ohio employers, particularly as the connections between our local workforce and Dallas healthcare worker April Vinson continue to come to light. Vinson, who has tested positive for the virus, reportedly traveled by air to Cleveland on October 10 and returned to
New Reporting Requirements:
OSHA has issued a final rule that modifies recordkeeping and reporting requirements for employers. The most significant change requires an employer to notify OSHA within twenty-four (24) hours of when an employee suffers a work-related, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. Under the prior rule, employers were only required to