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On December 16, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it issued citations to Amazon for 14 recordkeeping violations at six warehouse facilities in five states for failing to properly record work-related injuries and illnesses. Investigations are ongoing, according to OSHA. The agency received referrals from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted revised policies for enforcing workplace safety and health requirements as states throughout the country begin lifting stay-at-home restrictions and workplaces reopen. The changes include updated requirements for recording cases of COVID-19.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an enforcement memorandum instructing its inspectors to use discretion in enforcing injury and illness recordkeeping requirements for cases of COVID-19. The use of enforcement discretion does not apply to corrections, emergency services, healthcare, and law enforcement employers.
On October 10, 2018, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) issued an emergency proposal that would amend its State Plan to require designated employers in the state to electronically submit to federal OSHA their Cal/OSHA Form 300A, which contains data on occupational injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2017; under the proposal, the […]
You may have wondered why OSHA and OSHA-authorized states refer to occurrences in which workers are injured or killed as incidents, not accidents. The main reason is that, by the dictionary definition, an accident is an “unexpected or unforeseen” incident that usually results in injury or damage. To take an extreme example, an airplane that […]
Three public interest groups have petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order OSHA to lift its suspension of portions of its rule requiring employers to electronically submit to OSHA certain information about injuries and illnesses that occur in their workplaces. According to the petition before the court, OSHA suspended the […]
Recently, a subscriber asked us the following question: How long should industrial hygiene surveys be kept on file? This was our response:
Injury and illness recordkeeping is a common pitfall for many companies. Employers with more than 10 employees must keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses; however, certain low-hazard industries are exempt. All employers, including those exempt from standard recordkeeping or reporting requirements under workplace safety and health rules, must report any fatality, inpatient hospitalization, amputation, […]
Since 1988, the UST regulations required that tanks be made of or lined with materials that are compatible with the substance stored. Since that time, many new biofuel blends have come on the market. The 2015 UST amendments add new compatibility notification, demonstration of compatibility, and recordkeeping requirements concerning certain biofuels. Notification. UST owners and […]
Understanding Coal Ash and the New Final Rule—Part 2 Coal ash will not be considered a hazardous waste. The final requirements for coal ash disposal were established for nonhazardous waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), rather than under Subtitle C that covers hazardous waste. As one result, under RCRA, […]