Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On April 6, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a pair of stakeholder meetings on the agency’s heat illness prevention activities and whistleblower protections in healthcare (87 Federal Register (FR) 19997, 19997). Both meetings will be held virtually via Zoom. The stakeholder meeting on OSHA’s initiatives to protect workers from heat-related hazards is on […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed suit against an Amsterdam, New York, ophthalmologist for firing an employee who raised concerns about the practice’s failure to implement state-mandated protocols protecting employees from COVID-19 and later filed complaints with state health officials. The DOL’s complaint alleges that, between March and December 2020, an employee expressed […]
A Houston mobile crane rental company was ordered to pay a former employee nearly $24,000 in back wages, interest, and damages after firing the worker in June 2020 for refusing to drive in excess of federal limits and reported fatigue, according to a November 18 announcement from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The […]
On February 24, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued corrections to its August 31, 2020, amendments to the construction and shipyard beryllium standards (86 FR 11119).
Are you about to be hit with a wave of employee complaints or concerns about protections from workplace COVID-19 exposures?
Whistleblower charges alleging workplace safety retaliation have surged dramatically during COVID-19. Approximately 30 percent more charges have been filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) over the same period last year, according to a recent audit from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Inspector General.
The Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an audit report of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) handling of whistleblower complaints during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The OIG recommended that OSHA fill staff vacancies in the Whistleblower Protection Program (WPP), continue a pilot triage program in its Region […]
As state stay-at-home orders begin to lift and workplaces reopen, are you ready for employee concerns about their safety and health in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic? How will you respond if an employee files a complaint with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or a state workplace safety and health agency? Employers must […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) expanded guidance regarding shortages of N95 filtering facepiece respirators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA instructed field offices to exercise discretion when enforcing annual fit-testing requirements, as long as employers have made good-faith efforts to comply with requirements of the respiratory protection standard.
A Pennsylvania manufacturer must pay $1,047,399 in lost wages and punitive damages to two former employees fired in retaliation for cooperating in a federal safety investigation.