OSHA Compliance

Here is a look at OSHA’s Permit-required confined spaces (PRCS) compliance activity in 2017 (October 2016 – September 2017). As you can see, OSHA did 149 LOTO inspections and issued 401 citations for a total of $2,333,696 in fines.  Here is a quick breakdown of activity:

Here is a look at OSHA’s Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) compliance activity in 2017 (October 2016 – September 2017). As you can see, OSHA did 1,487 LOTO inspections (↓) and issued 2,567 citations (↓) for a total of $13,467,038 in fines (↓). 2016 numbers were 1,780 LOTO inspections and issued 3,235 citations for a total of $16,611,253 in fines.  This is the

Here is a look at OSHA’s Hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) compliance activity in 2017 (October 2019 – September 2017). As you can see, OSHA did 24 HAZWOPER inspections and issued only 41 citations for a total of $148,221 in fines.  This is the SETTLED amount and NOT the initial citations. Here is a quick

At this year’s NSC Congress OSHA announced their 2017 Top 10 Violations.  They have not updated their Data Page yet, but here are their preliminary…

In this profession we have a saying when it comes to written safety programs… “steal with pride”. We learn early on in our careers that not much changes in OSHA standards so finding someone who already has a written program, training powerpoint, permits, checklist, etc. that we can just “steal it” rather than “recreating the

Sometimes we can find the most concise explanations from OSHA in these Extensions of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements.  This week OSHA posted an extension notice regarding the paperwork requirements found in 1910.178 Powered Industrial Trucks Standard.  It is in this posting that OSHA does such a nice

This 2017 letter of interpretation clarifies the requirements at Section 1904.31, Covered Employees. Specifically, OSHA clarifies who is responsible for recording injuries and illnesses of workers when a prime contractor and subcontractor share supervision at a construction site.

In the process safety arena, OSHA’s PSM Standard (and EPA’s RMP rule) made it official… doing “hot work” in/on/adjacent to the “covered process(s)” required a WRITTEN PERMIT. Before PSM/RMP, OSHA only “preferred” the permission to perform Hot Work be in written form. OSHA PSM (and RMP)intent was to require employers to control, in a consistent

For years, OSHA had taken a position on when/where “swing gates” were actually required and that position was that it did NOT apply to fixed ladders on the edge of a platform.  Then in 2009 they officially stated their enforcement position in a Regional Memo that DID include ladderway opening on the edge of a