Tag: OSHA

COVID-19 safety inspection

OSHA’s New NEP Focuses on COVID-19 Enforcement

On March 12, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP), focusing enforcement on companies at which large numbers of workers face serious risk of COVID-19 infections. The NEP also prioritizes whistleblower protection enforcement for workers who face retaliation for reporting unsafe or unhealthy workplace conditions.

Safety team, COVID-19 standard

What Might Be in a Federal OSHA COVID-19 Standard?

On January 21, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to consider an emergency temporary standard (ETS) related to COVID-19. If the ETS is deemed necessary, the Order, titled “Protecting Worker Health and Safety,” calls on OSHA to issue it by March 15, today. What might […]

OSHA regs and enforcement concept

BREAKING: OSHA Launches NEP to Protect High-Risk Workers from Coronavirus

On March 12, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to protect workers at high risk of contracting the coronavirus. The NEP was launched in response to a January 21, 2021, Executive Order from President Joe Biden.

OSHA log, OSHA inspections

OIG: Reduced OSHA Inspections During COVID-19 Put Workers at Risk

Reduced Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic left U.S. workers’ safety at increased risk, the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) concluded in its audit of the agency.

Automated External Defibrillator, AEDs

What State Plan States Require AEDs in the Workplace?

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards do not specifically address automated external defibrillators (AEDs). However, exposures to first-aid hazards and the requirement that persons be properly trained to render first aid, which in some instances requires CPR training, are addressed in specific OSHA standards for the general industry. The regulations in state […]

COVID-19 coronavirus

Experts Urge More Action, Emergency OSHA Standard on COVID-19

Thirteen medical and scientific experts urged the Biden administration to take immediate actions to address SARS-CoV-2 inhalation hazards, including issuing an emergency Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard. The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic in March 2020. Signers of the letter to the White House, Centers for Disease Control and […]

GHS HazCom pictograms SDS

OSHA HazCom Updates Include Labeling, SDS Requirements

On February 16, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed an update to the agency’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), which would align provisions of the rule with the seventh revision of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) published in 2017 (86 FR 9576). An eighth revised edition was published […]

GHS and Hazcom, hazard communication

OSHA Proposes Revised HazCom Standard to Conform to GHS

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed rules to modify the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to conform to the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) Revision 7, which is more current than the version of the GHS that’s incorporated into the existing HCS.