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
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 […]
It could happen at any minute. An OSHA compliance officer arrives for a visit and your program and people are under the microscope. Are your written programs in order? Do your employees’ practices reflect the training you work so hard to provide? Was the complaint, injury, or statistic that brought the officer in the door […]
Although OSHA does issue frequent citations under the General Duty Clause (GDC), it cannot cite all hazards that are not covered by a specific standard. There are specific criteria that a hazard has to meet in order to be citable under the GDC. Keep reading to find out what conditions must be satisfied before OSHA […]
One section of the OSH Act that seems to bewilder employers and employees alike is Section 5, known as the General Duty Clause (GDC). It’s very brief, but it has considerable significance among OSHA’s means of enforcing compliance—and, for that matter, can be useful to employees seeking relief from what they consider unsafe work. The […]
Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., has a long history with federal OSHA. Between 1982 and the first half of 2014, the furniture manufacturer had been inspected by federal OSHA 33 times and by state OSHA agencies an additional 23 times. In its 33 previous federal inspections, OSHA cited the employer for 96 serious, 4 repeat, and […]
In early February, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) slapped Ashley Furniture Industries with nearly $1.8 million in proposed fines for repeat and willful violations. The furniture manufacturer stands accused of exposing workers to amputation hazards, electrical violations, training deficiencies, and other violations at its Arcadia, Wisconsin, manufacturing facility that led to more than […]