The California legislature has passed a slew of new workplace safety laws – many of which would change the landscape for California employers. Now that the September 30 deadline for the governor to sign or veto bills has...more
The OSHA process for issuing a new heat regulation is finally heating up. On August 30, 2024, OSHA published its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in the Federal Register. The path to get to this NPRM has been a long...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines a "willful" violation as one where the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement or acted with plain indifference to employee safety....more
As part of the recent legislative session, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1775, which implements new workplace safety training and certification requirements for entertainment events vendors who produce live events...more
As part of Vandeventer Black’s participation in Construction Safety Week 2022, and with heat increasing in many places (or staying hot in others), we wanted to remind those in the industry of the importance of heat-related...more
According to 2020 OSHA data, there were 976 construction-related fatalities. Of those 88 fatalities included construction supervisors, making it clear that safety awareness is critical for everyone on a project site and not...more
Between the host employer and the staffing agency, who is responsible for the health and safety training of temporary workers? The staffing agency and the host employer jointly employ temporary workers and, therefore, they...more
Punitive damages are awarded against an employer in favour of an employee only if the employer engaged in wrongful acts that are outrageous, reprehensible, and offensive to ordinary standards of decent conduct in the...more
With the prevalence of online consumer reviews and merciless labor organizations, companies and their executives are vulnerable to attack for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all. Managing the expectations of your...more
On July 29, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced two new Executive Orders revising workplace and gathering safeguards intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Executive Order 2020-160 provides remote-work...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA recently updated its National Emphasis Program on Amputations in Manufacturing Industries (NEP), adding a targeting methodology for industries with high employer-reported amputation statistics....more
In 2009, Nevada implemented mandatory safety training for employees performing work on construction sites. In 2017, Nevada expanded that mandatory safety training to include employees involved in the presentation or...more
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) held its quarterly stakeholder call on May 2, 2019. MSHA began the discussion by reviewing the five fatalities that occurred in the first quarter of 2019. The agency then...more
While it is not comparable to David Letterman’s Top 10 lists, at a recent industry gathering, OSHA announced its annual top 10 violations for fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018). For those who have...more
Workplace violence is one of the most troubling issues keeping HR professionals and in-house counsel up at night – and with good reason. Just last week alone, there were three workplace shootings in a span of 24 hours. ...more
June is National Safety Month, so it’s a good time for operators to step back and take a hard look at their respective safety policies. Not only is this important for employee safety, it can also have a significant impact on...more
Folks who follow my writing know that of the many groups to which I speak, the AGC National Safety Committee is my favorite. I love the industry and I value the clients and contacts who have become friends, even Bob Emmerich,...more
It’s a news headline we’ve seen too often, including several times in recent weeks: another disgruntled employee or former employee has entered the workplace and killed or injured coworkers. What can you do to minimize the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The National STEPS Network provides a working model of an industry wide employee onboarding and safety training program. We attended the World Safety Organization International Environmental and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Companies cannot go to prison, but their executives and managers can when they violate the OSHA laws. And, companies can face stiff fines and other business-disrupting (or ending) collateral consequences...more
Years ago, my employer gave employees a coaster every quarter that the group had no OSHA reportable incidents. Now it would have been in violation to have such a program. Despite criticism from workers compensation carriers...more
The City of Philadelphia has issued new code requirements for construction worker safety training. The new rules went into effect on October 1, 2015, and the Department of Licenses and Inspections has announced that strict...more
The Federal government is engaging tough measures to ensure corporations take safety seriously. First, OSHA is in the process of implementing changes to its penalty calculation system, which includes increasing penalty...more
Take a look around you. There’s a good chance you work at a facility that uses a Powered Industrial Truck (PIT). OSHA defines a PIT as “any mobile power-propelled truck used to carry, push, pull, lift, stack or tier...more