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On July 13, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the launch of a National Emphasis Program (NEP) of outreach and enforcement focused on warehouses, postal processing facilities, distribution centers, and high-risk retail establishments. According to OSHA, warehousing and distribution centers have seen tremendous growth in the past 10 years and now employ more […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) and the criteria for an SVEP case. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is well known for not only setting the standards for safety, […]
Exit routes are a big deal when it comes to safety inspections. If your emergency exits are blocked for whatever reason, inspectors aren’t going to have much sympathy for you. Recently, inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited discount retailers Dollar Tree and Dollar General for repeat exit route violations. Accordingly, the […]
On July 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it issued a pair of six-figure fines to employers in Missouri and New Jersey. BCP Ingredients Inc., located in Verona, Missouri, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Balchem Corp., faces the larger of the fines—$393,798—after agency inspectors found dozens of serious safety and health […]
Rex Lumber LLC faces $184,385 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a 20-year-old worker trying to clear a jammed roller in its Troy, Alabama, sawmill was crushed and killed after stored energy caused the infeed unit to close on him, the agency announced July 5. OSHA issued a willful citation for allowing […]
In a June 16 viewpoint article in JAMA, David Michaels, former assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, wrote the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should take steps to better protect workers in future pandemics, including issuing a federal pandemic preparedness standard. Michaels, who served under President Barack Obama, was OSHA’s longest-serving […]
An active shooter can show up at any workplace, but some industries and workplaces like healt care and social assistance have higher risks for violence. A former employee shows up at the workplace and shoots five workers, killing four, before driving to another former employer’s place of business to kill three others. A patient in […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced June 28 that an administrative law judge (ALJ) with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ruled that Shawn D. Purvis is personally responsible for $1,572,340 in OSHA fines. Purvis, who does business as Purvis Home Improvement Co. Inc., willfully exposed roofing workers to fall hazards at […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced “shocking” findings of a workplace safety investigation into a behavioral health and substance disorder facility in Jacksonville, Fla. According to the federal probe, workers at the UHS of Delaware Inc.-Wekiva Springs Center LLC (operating as Wekiva Springs Hospital) were assaulted, confined by patients, and suffered broken bones, concussions, and […]
On June 22, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) invited small businesses to participate in the development of a federal heat standard to protect indoor and outdoor workers. The agency unveiled plans to hold OSHA Small Business Advocacy Review Panel meetings this summer to gather views on the possible effects of a heat standard […]