Federal OSHA launched a new initiative to protect workers in the engineered stone fabrication industry who are exposed to excessive levels of silica dust. Workers in the industry are being diagnosed with irreversible lung disease from silica dust exposure because many manufacturers in the U.S. are out of compliance with related standards, according to experts. […]
California may soon be the first state in the U.S. to cover domestic workers such as housekeepers, nannies and other household staff under OSHA safety standards. State safety agency Cal/OSHA and federal OSHA both exclude domestic workers from the protections of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Legislators in California want to change that, voting […]
OSHA released an outline of potential options for its proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings standard, giving employers an idea of what may be coming. The document is a regulatory framework for a heat injury and illness prevention rule the agency envisions as “a programmatic standard that could require […]
OSHA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) Aug. 29, 2023 on who can be an employee representative that accompanies compliance officers during physical workplace inspections. Employers and employees have the right under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to have a representative authorized by them accompany OSHA officials during inspections to aid the investigation. […]
OSHA’s ability to adopt workplace safety rules is valid, according to an appeals court decision in a challenge to the agency’s constitutional legitimacy. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act sufficiently limits OSHA’s oversight and establishes principles it must follow when adopting safety standards. Despite OSHA’s […]
OSHA is taking an Illinois roofing contractor to court for failing to pay more than $360,000 in fines for repeatedly exposing employees to falls from heights. Joshua Herion, owner of ECS Roofing Professionals Inc., is facing a lawsuit filed by OSHA in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. This follows a […]
An OSHA investigation found that the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality retaliated against a whistleblower who reported safety concerns to management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). OSHA enforces whistleblower provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act and more than 20 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various workplace safety and […]
Dollar Tree, the corporation that operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores in 48 states and Canada, entered into an agreement with OSHA to settle its many citations. The corporate-wide settlement agreement was signed Aug. 17, 2023, and covers all Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores within federal OSHA jurisdiction. Dollar Tree […]
A settlement agreement between OSHA and Rite Aid Corp. will see the company introducing a program to protect employees in New Jersey and New York from bloodborne pathogens. Rite Aid agreed to develop a bloodborne pathogen exposure and control plan at all 370 stores in the two states after contesting related OSHA citations with the […]
