OSHA Compliance

This past week I worked with a client who’s safety contact is the HR manager and we had several discussions about OSHA’s revised recordkeeping requirements and all the recent reporting changes.  One thing I noticed is that ALL MANUFACTURING facilities are considered “high risk” and are on the list of NAICS’s number that must report.  So the…...

Holy cow batman, have we really come to this in the safety profession?!?!?!  An apprentice is crushed to death while standing inside (or technically under) a “machine” looking at some fans he was going to be working on, while the facility technician was performing the LOTO on “the machine”.  To get this “machine” to the…...

In November 2015, Congress enacted legislation requiring federal agencies to adjust their civil penalties to account for inflation. The Department of Labor is adjusting penalties for its agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  OSHA’s maximum penalties, which were last adjusted in 1990, will increase by 78%. Going forward, the agency will continue…...

The final rule to Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses prohibits employers from discouraging workers from reporting an injury or illness. The final rule requires employers to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation; clarifies the existing implicit requirement that an employer’ s procedure for reporting workrelated injuries and illnesses must…...

On October 29, 2009, Employee #1 was performing pressures tests on 30-pound fire extinguisher bodies, using a test machine run in automatic mode. Employee #1 loaded four bodies/cylinders into the machine and started the test cycle by activating the two-hand control. The machine submerged the fire extinguishers into a water bath, and the bodies were…...

As a result of a 2012 inspection, Respondent was cited for five repeat violations, which were issued on March 27, 2013. The citations upon which the repeat violations were based were issued to Wynnewood Refining while owned and operated by Gary Williams Energy (GWE), most of which became final orders of the Commission in April…...

In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act to advance the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. The new law directs agencies to adjust their penalties for inflation each year using a much more straightforward method than previously available, and requires agencies to publish “catch…...

KMCL has noted that OSHA has been very aggressive in its enforcement efforts and in seeking large penalties over the last several months.  As described below, the initiatives the agency has recently announced signal that this intensity will continue to ratchet up over the coming months and likely beyond.  As a result, employers should consider…...

This posting is a demonstration as to how OSHA (State of IN OSHA) can/will issue citations against BOTH the host facility and it’s contractor for the same OSHA violations.  In this case, the contractor doing the work, did so using TAGOUT without any additional measures that would make “tagout” equally effective as “lockout” (e.g. Tag…...

We see this argument from time to time, hence I am sharing this OSHRC decision from last week as a discussion “starter” at facilities, especially food facilities where safety glasses are not used for whatever reason(s).  This case involved a chicken processing facility that chose to NOT use safety glasses on a “chicken deboning line”.  The…...

The new rule, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2017, requires certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness summary (Form 300A) data.  The amount of data submitted will vary depending on the size of company and type of industry.  The new reporting requirements will be phased in over two years.  Establishments in the following industries…...