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
So, are citizens’ tips a major component of enforcement programs? Primarily, the average citizen is not able to identify anything beyond the most blatant environmental problems. For example, the EPAinforms aspiring citizen inspectorsthat possible signs of an environmentalviolation include: Strong, offensive, or unusual chemical odors; Large numbers of dead animals, including birds or fish; Pipes […]
Recent enforcement statistics from the EPA show that during fiscal year (FY) 2014, enforcement actions required companies to invest more than $9.7 billion in actions and equipment to control pollution and clean up contaminated sites. Companies paid $63 million in combined administrative, civil, and criminal fines. And that’s just on the federal level! Follow these […]
Let’s face it. If someone in your community has a complaint about your facility, you would much rather hear from them than having the EPA alerted first. It’s all about communication. We’ve discussed some of these ideas before, but some of them bear repeating. These tips can help you in developing an open relationship with […]
When the EPA publishes a press release about an enforcement case, the release will likely contain a statement about how the Agency came to uncover the violations. Sometimes a routine inspection, sometimes a surprise inspection, but often you will find that the inspection was prompted by a citizen complaint. In essence, your neighbors are tattling […]
On March 3, 2015, OSHA cited Seldat Distribution, a distribution warehouse in Dayton, NJ, for 10 serious violations carrying $63,000 in proposed penalties. Inspectors were at the facility looking for electrical hazards in the wake of an employee’s electrocution, and they found many, including problems with the distributor’s electrical panels. They found other problems as […]
In March 2015, OSHA cited Dollar General Corp. for four repeated safety violations found in a December 2014 inspection of a Dollar General store in Atlanta, GA. Dollar General stores have been inspected more than 70 times since 2009—and many of those inspections have identified the same hazards over and over again. The most recent […]
Civil Penalties With a few exceptions, most violations of RCRA’s hazardous waste regulations carry a civil penalty of up to $37,500 per day per violation and the possible suspension or revocation of the violator’s permit. Criminal Penalties Knowing violations of hazardous waste rules can result in fines of up to $50,000 per day per violation […]
Shortly after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a woman named Connie Knight began making the rounds of the Southeast Asian fishing communities in coastal Louisiana. She claimed to be a high-ranking OSHA hazardous waste safety instructor and inspector, and she showed off federal identification cards to prove it. She promised trainees that she could […]
Under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Marshall v. Barlow’s, Inc., employers have a constitutional right to demand that OSHA obtain a warrant before initiating an inspection. Such a warrant must be based on probable cause—that is, a reasonable basis for the selection of the facility. If OSHA, when faced with a request, fails to […]
Today, many OSHA inspections are triggered by employee complaints. That’s just one of the reasons wise employers should respond promptly to employee concerns and, ideally, resolve them so that a worker doesn’t need to go to OSHA for redress. Here’s how OSHA responds when an employee complains and what conditions can trigger an inspection. Complaint […]