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Showing posts with label osha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label osha. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

OSHA Cites Oakland NJ Company with $257,931 in Penalties

A U.S. Department of Labor inspection in June 2023 at an Oakland, NJ manufacturing company — that followed reports of two workers being injured — found employees exposed to dozens of serious safety and health hazards.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Analysis of the OSHA Report on Severe Injury: A Seven-Year Lookback

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the "Severe Injury Report: A Seven-Year Lookback"  summarizing employer-reported inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and eye losses from 2015 to 2021. This report provides valuable insights into the prevalence and nature of severe workplace injuries, helping identify areas for improvement in workplace safety.

Monday, October 16, 2023

Wayne NJ Contractor Fined $180K for Exposing Workers to Energized Power Lines

The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement agreement with a New Jersey building contractor who allowed their subcontractors' employees to work in close proximity to high-voltage power lines at a Paterson work site in 2021 and 2022.

Saturday, July 29, 2023

OSHA Issues Extreme Heat Hazard Alert

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that it's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a heat hazard alert to remind employers of their obligation to protect workers against heat illness or injury in outdoor and indoor workplaces.

Friday, July 28, 2023

President Biden Announces New Actions to Protect Workers from Extreme Heat

Millions of American workers are currently experiencing the effects of extreme heat, which is growing in intensity, frequency, and duration due to the climate crisis. President Biden requests the Department of Labor to issue Hazard Alerts for Heat and take other actions to protect workers from extreme heat. 

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

New OSHA Reporting Requirements For Injuries and Illnesses

The U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule requiring certain employers in designated high-hazard industries to submit injury and illness information electronically – that they are already required to keep – to the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Thursday, July 13, 2023

OSHA Cites Main Line Contractor Corp. of Newark NJ for 21 Violations and $333,052 in Penalties

A series of inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor has found a Newark-based construction contractor defying federal safety regulations by exposing employees to more than 20 violations, including potentially deadly falls, at six southern and central New Jersey work sites in early 2023.

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Fireworks, pyrotechnics industry employers strongly urged to make worker safety a priority on July 4

Since the founding fathers declared the colonies independent in 1776, cannons, fireworks, and today, extensive pyrotechnic displays have become a July 4th fixture. Unfortunately, so have severe injuries and worse for people in the fireworks and pyrotechnics industry when necessary workplace safety standards are ignored.

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

OSHA: America Airlines Fined for Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Hazardous Fumes in Cabin


Federal safety and health investigators have determined that one of the nation's largest airlines retaliated against flight attendants who reported worker illnesses caused by toxic fumes entering aircraft cabins.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Work-Related Respiratory Disease Rate Soars

Private industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2021, a decrease of 1.8 percent from 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In 2021, the incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, unchanged from 2020. These estimates are from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII).

The decline in injury and illness cases was due to a drop in illness cases, with private industry employers reporting 365,200 nonfatal illnesses in 2021, down from 544,600 in 2020, a drop of 32.9 percent. This decrease was driven by a 37.1 percent decrease in employer-reported

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

respiratory illness cases in 2021 at 269,600, down from 428,700 in 2020. (See chart 2.) In 2019, there were 127,200 illness cases and 10,800 respiratory illness cases. Total reported injury cases increased by 6.3 percent to 2.2 million cases in 2021, up from 2.1 million cases in 2020. (See chart 1.)

The rate of injury cases increased in 2021, with private industry employers reporting a rate of 2.3 cases per 100 FTE workers compared to 2.2 cases in 2020. Over the same period, the rate of illness cases decreased from 55.9 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers to 37.7 cases. The decrease was driven by the drop in the respiratory illness rate, which fell from 44.0 cases per 10,000 FTE workers to 27.8 cases.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact in SOII Results

Occupational injuries and illnesses collected in the 2021 SOII include cases of COVID-19 when a worker was infected as a result of performing their work-related duties and met other recordkeeping criteria. COVID-19 is considered a respiratory illness under criteria established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Related Articles

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.



Monday, September 5, 2022

Top 10 Workplace Safety and Health Violations

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA for all industries. OSHA publishes the list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries, illnesses, and deaths occur in the workplace that are related to these top 10 cited standards.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Appeals Court Rejects Effort to Compel OSHA to Retain Healthcare ETS

On Friday, an Appellate Court rejected the UNIONS' effort, including the National Nurses, United, to compel the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to retain the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Topics: Heat Stress

Workers' compensation claims result from heat stress and exposure. As the Mid-West and Northeast heatwave is now soaring to record temperatures, workers should protect themselves from heat exposure. Today's post was shared by Safe Healthy Workers and comes from www.cdc.gov

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Jury awards $650K in damages for Massachusetts contractor’s unlawful retaliation against injured immigrant worker

A federal jury in the District of Massachusetts has found that a Massachusetts employer and his company retaliated against an employee who reported an on-the-job injury. The jury awarded $650,000 in damages – $600,000 in punitive damages and $50,000 in compensatory damages – as a result.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

OSHA Fines Roofing Company $360,531

An Illinois roofing contractor – with a history of violating federal safety standards and ignoring safety citations – was cited again by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to deadly fall hazards at two separate job sites in October 2021. Joshua Herion – who does business as ECS Roofing Professionals Inc. – faces proposed penalties of $360,531.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Injury Caused by Defeated Machine Guard Results in OSHA Fine of $159,522

An employee working at Crystal Finishing Systems Inc.’s aluminum extrusion facility in Weston was hospitalized with serious injuries after being struck by a puller machine while trying to unjam a piece of aluminum.

Friday, February 4, 2022

OSHA fines New Jersey company $130,000 for methylene chloride violations

 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a New Jersey company $130,000 for methylene chloride violations. Exposure to paint strippers containing methylene chloride remains a severe health concern for workers. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently refused to extend the United States Environmental Protection [EPA] agency's regulations to cover methylene chloride in the commercial setting.

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Aluminum Shapes LLC fined $1 Million by OSHA for violations


Aluminum Shapes LLC will affirm a $1 million penalty and accept 10 willful, 15 repeat and 55 serious violations and one other-than-serious citation in a settlement agreement to resolve two long-running U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration cases related to a fatality and a series of employee injuries at the company’s Delair plant.

Saturday, December 18, 2021

OSHA Emergency Temporary COVID Standard Upheld by Federal Court of Appeals

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision staying the Biden Administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The split decision (2-1) of the three-judge panel upholds vaccine mandates against COVID infections for places of employment having 100 or more employees. 

An appeal to the US Supreme court is anticipated.





Summary

“The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across America, leading to the loss of over 800,000 lives, shutting down workplaces and jobs across the country, and threatening our economy. Throughout, American employees have been trying to survive financially and hoping to find a way to return to their jobs. Despite access to vaccines and better testing, however, the virus rages on, mutating into different variants, and posing new risks. Recognizing that the “old normal” is not going to return, employers and employees have sought new models for a workplace that will protect the safety and health of employees who earn their living there. In need of guidance on how to protect their employees from COVID-19 transmission while reopening business, employers turned to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA or the Agency), the federal agency tasked with assuring a safe and healthful workplace. On November 5, 2021, OSHA issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS or the standard) to protect the health of employees by mitigating spread of this historically unprecedented virus in the workplace. The ETS requires that employees be vaccinated or wear a protective face covering and take weekly tests but allows employers to choose the policy implementing those requirements that is best suited to their workplace. The next day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed the ETS pending judicial review, and it renewed that decision in an opinion issued on November 12. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2112(a)(3), petitions challenging the ETS—filed in Circuits across the nation—were consolidated into this court. Pursuant to our authority under 28 U.S.C. § 2112(a)(4), we DISSOLVE the stay issued by the Fifth Circuit…”


The Emergency Temporary Standard

“The ETS does not require anyone to be vaccinated. Rather, the ETS allows covered employers—employers with 100 or more employees—to determine for themselves how best to minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19 in their workplaces….. Employers have the option to require unvaccinated workers to wear a mask on the job and test for COVID-19 weekly…. They can also require those workers to do their jobs exclusively from home, and workers who work exclusively outdoors are exempt…. The employer—not OSHA—can require that its workers get vaccinated, something that countless employers across the country have already done…. Employers must also confirm their employees' vaccination status and keep records of that status…. Consistent with other OSHA standard penalties, employers who fail to follow the standard may be fined penalties up to $13,653 for each violation and up to $136,532 for each willful violation. 29 C.F.R. § 1903.15(d). “


 Holding

1. OSHA has demonstrated the pervasive danger that COVID-19 poses to workers􀂲unvaccinated workers in particular􀂲in their workplaces

2. OSHA’s issuance of the ETS is not a transformative expansion of its regulatory power as OSHA has regulated workplace health and safety, including diseases, for decades. 

3. There is little likelihood of success for the challenges against OSHA’s bases for issuing the ETS.

4. The factors regarding irreparable injury weigh in favor of the Government and the public interest.  


In re: MCP No. 165, Occupational Safety & Health Admin. Rule on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing, 86 Fed. Reg. 61402, Nos. 21-7000, et al., 5thCir, 2021. Decided December 17, 2021.


Appeals to US Supreme Court


-BST Holding, LLC filed an Emergency Application for Relief "Whether OSHA’s private-employer mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or the First Amendment"

-IN RE: MCP NO. 165, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, INTERIM FINAL RULE: COVID-19 VACCINATION AND TESTING; EMERGENCY TEMPORARY STANDARD 86 FED. REG. 61402, ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2021

US Supreme Court to hear oral argument on 7 Jan 2022.

Recommended Citation: Gelman, Jon L.,  OSHA Temporary Emergency COVID Standard Upheld by Federal Court of Appeals, Workers' Compensation Blog (Dec. 17, 2021), https://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/2021/12/osha-temporary-emergency-covid-standard.html


Related Articles


Amazon Settles with California Over Concealment of COVID Data From Warehouse Workers COVID-19 11/17/21


OSHA issues emergency temporary standard to protect workers from coronavirus 11/04/21


Biden Administration Targets Occupational Exposure to PFAS 10/22/21


Vaccine Mandate-EEOC: Employers that demonstrate “undue hardship” are not required to accommodate an employee’s request for a religious accommodation 10/20/21


COVID Boosters: What Employees and Employers Need to Know 10/14/21


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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (Thomson-Reuters). For over 5 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.


Blog: Workers ' Compensation

Twitter: jongelman

LinkedIn: JonGelman

LinkedIn Group: Injured Workers Law & Advocacy Group

Author: "Workers' Compensation Law" Thomson-Reuters


Updated 12/23/2021

Monday, November 22, 2021

OSHA Sues Texas Company Over Whistleblower Firing

As the coronavirus began to spread rapidly across the nation in March 2020, an employee of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks told a supervisor of their concerns about exposure to the virus at the Denton facility.