OSHA Begins Outreach Initiative on Hazards of Working Outdoors in Hot Weather

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Published on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 05:12

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has begun a national outreach initiative to educate employers and employees about the hazards of working outdoors in hot weather. Every year, thousands of workers across the country suffer from serious heat-related illnesses. If not quickly addressed, heat exhaustion can become heat stroke. Labor-intensive activities in hot weather can raise body temperatures beyond the level that normally can be cooled by sweating. Heat illness initially may manifest as heat rash or heat cramps, but quickly can become heat exhaustion and then heat stroke if simple prevention steps are not followed, such as drinking plenty of water and taking frequent breaks in the shade.

According to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, "For outdoor workers, 'water, rest and shade' are three words that can make the difference between life and death…If employers take reasonable precautions, and look out for their workers, we can beat the heat." In preparation for the summer season, OSHA has developed heat illness educational materials in English and Spanish, as well as a curriculum to be used for workplace training. Additionally, OSHA has a webpage for employers and employees regarding heat illness, which provides information and resources, including how to prevent heat illness and what to do in case of an emergency.  Read More.

Court Limits OSHA’s Ability to Issue Citations Beyond Six Month Statute of Limitations

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Published on Thursday, 19 April 2012 03:14

In a recent case, a federal district Court of Appeal has limited the ability of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue citations beyond the six month statute of limitations. The case involves Volks Constructors, a company that OSHA cited for failing to properly record certain workplace injuries, and for failing to properly maintain its injury log between January 2002 and April 2006. OSHA issued the citations in November 2006, which was, as Volks points out, at least six months after the last unrecorded injury occurred.  Federal law specifies that no citation may be issued “after the expiration of six months following the occurrence of any violation.”  Volks thus argued that the citations were untimely and should be vacated. On appeal, the court agreed with Volks, holding that the citations were untimely because the injuries giving rise to the alleged recording failures took place more than six months before the issuance of the citation. 

Pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSH Act” or “Act”) every “employer shall make, keep and preserve” records of workplace injuries and illnesses.”  Specifically, employers must record information about work-related injuries and illnesses as follows: (1) Employers must prepare an incident report and a separate injury log within 7 calendar days of receiving information that a recordable injury or illness has occurred. An injury or illness must be recorded if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. The employer must also consider that a case meets the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness; (2) Employers must prepare a year-end summary report of all recordable injuries during the calendar year; (3) The year-end summary must be certified by a “company executive”; (4) The employer must retain all of these documents for five years from the end of the calendar year that the records cover.

When an occupational injury or illness involves an employee missing one or more days away from work, the employer must record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log with a check mark in the space for cases involving days away and an entry of the number of calendar days away from work in the number of days column. If the employee is out for an extended period of time, the employer must enter an estimate of the days that the employee will be away, and update the day count when the actual number of days is known. Read More.

OSHA Issues Memo on Employer Practices That May Discourage Employee Reports of Injuries

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Published on Tuesday, 27 March 2012 16:22

The U.S. Occupational and Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a memorandum regarding employer practices that may be discriminatory because they discourage employee reports of injuries. According to OSHA, the “memorandum is intended to provide guidance to both field compliance officers and whistleblower investigative staff on several employer practices that can discourage employee reports of injuries and violate section 11(c), or other whistleblower statutes.” The memorandum specifies that “If employees do not feel free to report injuries or illnesses, the employer's entire workforce is put at risk. Employers do not learn of and correct dangerous conditions that have resulted in injuries, and injured employees may not receive the proper medical attention, or the workers' compensation benefits to which they are entitled. Ensuring that employees can report injuries or illnesses without fear of retaliation is therefore crucial to protecting worker safety and health.”

The memorandum also identifies four types of workplace polices, and specific situations, that OSHA believes could discourage an employee from reporting an injury; which are as follows: (1) a workplace policy of taking disciplinary action against employees who are injured on the job, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the injury, which is essentially a policy to discipline all employees who are injured, regardless of fault; (2) situations in which an employee who reports an injury or illness is disciplined, and the stated reason is that the employee has violated an employer rule about the time or manner for reporting injuries and illnesses. However, workplace rules cannot penalize workers who do not realize immediately that their injuries are serious enough to report, or even that they are injured at all; (3) situations in which an employee reports an injury, and the employer imposes discipline on the ground that the injury resulted from the violation of a safety rule by the employee. Although OSHA encourages employers to maintain and enforce legitimate workplace safety rules in order to eliminate or reduce workplace hazards and prevent injuries from occurring in the first place, in some cases, an employer may attempt to use a work rule as a pretext for discrimination against a worker who reports an injury; and, (4) incentive programs that discourage employees from reporting their injuries. One important factor with these types of programs is whether the incentive involved is of sufficient magnitude that failure to receive it "might have dissuaded reasonable workers from" reporting injuries. Read More.

OSHA Revises Hazard Communication Standard

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Published on Tuesday, 20 March 2012 18:30

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its Hazard Communication Standard, thereby bringing it into alignment with the United Nations' global chemical labeling
system. According to OSHA, the new standard will prevent an estimated 43 deaths and result in an estimated $475.2 million in enhanced productivity for U.S. businesses each year. The new standard, which will be implemented in 2016, will classify chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and establish consistent labels and safety data sheets for all chemicals made in the United States and imported from abroad.  According to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, “Exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious dangers facing American workers today…Revising OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard will improve the quality, consistency and clarity of hazard information that workers receive, making it safer for workers to do their jobs and easier for employers to stay competitive in the global marketplace." During the transition period to the effective completion dates noted in the standard, chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors and employers may comply with either 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.1200 (the final standard), the current standard or both. The final rule revising the standard is available at httpp://s.dol.gov/P1. Read More.