The Acting Secretary of Labor appeared with the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health, Chris Williamson and union leaders on April 16th at an event in Uniontown, PA to announce the release of MSHA’s final respirable...more
On January 13, 2022, in per curiam opinion National Federation of Independent Business et al., v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, et al., the Supreme Court stayed OSHA’s COVID-19...more
1/14/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
General Duty Clause ,
Lack of Authority ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On November 12, 2021, in BST Holdings, L.L.C. et al., v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the initial temporary stay of the Occupational Safety and Health...more
Executive Order 14042 (Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors), the resulting guidance and the recent array of class deviation contract clauses create interesting and novel federal contract...more
11/1/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Flow Down Clause ,
Government Agencies ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Noncompliance ,
OSHA ,
Penalties ,
Religious Exemption ,
Social Distancing ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Webinars ,
Workplace Safety
On June 9, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a new COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) with the scope of the ETS limited to certain workplace settings that are defined as healthcare...more
6/29/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Manufacturers ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Today, Virginia’s new and detailed COVID-19 regulation takes effect. The rule, an “emergency temporary standard” (ETS), was adopted July 15th by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI). Unlike general guidance...more
7/28/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health and Safety ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
As companies plan to reopen, we’re getting lots of questions about how to prepare for workers wearing cloth face masks, as advised by the CDC and now required by some jurisdictions. Should your employees wear masks? Must...more
When Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta testified before Congress earlier this month, he emphasized balancing safety agencies’ legal obligations and commitments with President Trump’s commitment to deregulation. Meanwhile,...more
Can mis-steps with OSHA land you in jail? Several recent cases are a reminder that the risk is real. While OSHA rarely makes a criminal case out of safety violations, it does pursue criminal charges when people mislead the...more
According to a recent court opinion, last month MSHA reached a settlement with a mining company that included removing the company from the list of operators with a “pattern of violations” (POV). While a 3-1 majority of the...more
As the mining industry continues to wait for any new direction at MSHA to reveal itself, last week, MSHA published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register that could be the beginning of a new rulemaking on...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held an oversight hearing on MSHA and mine safety, featuring Assistant Secretary of Labor David Zetazelo, who outlined his priorities for MSHA....more