Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
As today’s workplace becomes more complex, regulation of that workplace increases. In this section, you’ll find the practical advice you need to understand exactly what OSHA, other federal agencies, and their state counterparts, require of you, and to comply in the ways that best satisfy both your and their needs. Look also for important court decisions, advice on how to handle enforcement actions, and news of upcoming changes in workplace health and safety law.
Free Special Report: What to Expect from an OSHA Inspection
OSHA has ordered Springfield Terminal Railway Inc. to compensate an employee who faced an investigative hearing with possible disciplinary action or termination for reporting an on-the-job injury at its facility in Andover, Massachusetts. OSHA ordered the company to pay the employee $10,000 in compensatory damages, $75,000 in punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.
Can an employer be cited for committing a willful violation of a worker protection standard even if the employer professed ignorance of the standard?
Does evidence of a hazard in a workplace or even evidence of an injury provide a reasonable suspicion that an inspection of the workplace would reveal violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act?
An OSHA standard to mitigate workplace violence in healthcare facilities does not appear to be on the horizon, but this is not because OSHA is not aware of the main provisions that would be included in such a standard. In fact, it is not uncommon for OSHA to issue citations against healthcare employers whose employees […]
In response to a spike in worker fatalities and injuries, OSHA has updated its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Trenching and Excavation. The updated NEP supersedes a special emphasis instruction on trenching and excavation OSHA issued in 1985 (CPL 02-00-069). NEPs are mainly directed at states with approved state plans and OSHA regional and area […]
Beginning October 1, 2018, OSHA launched a regional emphasis program (REP) focused on reducing employee exposure to fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) and agricultural anhydrous ammonium. The REP will be effective in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
In September 2017, the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) kicked off a work group to find ways “to improve the state-federal relationship in the context of compliance assurance.”
As the Supreme Court directed in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, challenges to the EPA’s Clean Water Rule or waters of the United States (WOTUS) (June 26, 2015, Federal Register (FR)) must be filed in federal district courts rather than in courts of appeal. This has set the stage for dueling opinions […]
While our September 2018 environmental enforcement roundup isn’t as dramatic as some of our other recent reports, it still provides valuable lessons for organizations that want to avoid becoming the next statistic. It’s also worth noting that a provider of environmental services (which you’d think would know compliance backwards and forwards) made this month’s list, […]
A new memo from Susan Bodine, the EPA’s assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), suggests that the Agency will continue to revamp its enforcement activities by placing a stronger emphasis on compliance assistance.