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Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) area offices in Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Florida, cited two employers following workplace fatalities. The agency’s Fort Lauderdale office cited Fleming Island, Florida-based Ballhawker of Florida Inc. with 12 serious violations after a 26-year-old diver drowned in a pond on a Ponte Vedra Beach golf course. OSHA is seeking […]
On July 5, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced citations for violations at a Greencastle, Pennsylvania, Dollar General store the agency had cited a year earlier. OSHA is seeking new penalties totaling $136,741. Responding to a complaint, the agency began an inspection at the store on December 28, 2021, and found conditions similar […]
On June 30, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced citations for two repeat, four serious, and two other-than-serious violations found during a Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) follow-up inspection. Employers included in the agency’s SVEP are subject to mandatory follow-up inspections and increased agency pressure to abate cited hazards. General Aluminum Mfg. Company […]
Four JBS Foods USA subsidiaries and affiliates reached an agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to settle COVID-19 citations at two JBS facilities. The four JBS units agreed to assemble a team of company and third-party experts to develop and implement an infectious disease preparedness plan for seven of its meat processing […]
A Blue Springs, Missouri, contractor is facing $796,817 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for trenching and other safety violations. The agency cited Arrow Plumbing and owner Rick Smith for four willful violations, one repeat violation, and seven serious violations of federal safety standards. The Missouri contractor exposed two workers to the life-threatening […]
On February 25, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it cited an Ohio contractor for the sixth time since 2018, issuing new citations for exposing workers to fall hazards at two separate building sites. ILS Construction of Hartsville, Ohio, faces proposed penalties totaling $237,013. The agency determined that ILS Construction and its owner, […]
In March, OSHA issued its Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The updates extend existing OSHA protections for workplace safety whistleblowers, explicitly stating those protections apply to those who report COVID-19 related violations at the workplace by creating a National Emphasis Program (NEP). Higher Risk Industries In addition, the memo also classifies […]
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance officers typically arrive without advance notice, which is enough to raise alarm bells in the minds of many employers. You might know why they’re there. Or you might not have any idea. Whatever the situation, step one should be to ask yourself: Should I demand the inspector come […]
On June 28, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an enforcement directive for its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), which only applies to healthcare and healthcare support services employers. The directive includes exemptions from inspection and enforcement under the ETS for a number of tasks and facilities, such as: Provision of first aid […]
We’re finally beginning to see light at the end of the dark COVID-19 pandemic tunnel. Case numbers are decreasing while the vaccination rate is climbing. Given the positive developments, even the most coronavirus-cautious employers are looking forward to bringing employees back on-site in 2021. With the push, however, employers face a number of obstacles in […]