OSHA
-
OSHA Marks End of Summer with Proposed Heat Standard Publication
Summer may be coming to an end, but the regulatory landscape heated up on August 30 when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its highly anticipated Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Setting proposed rule. The rule, a first-of-its-kind for OSHA, will establish new heat-related standards that could impact roughly… Continue reading
-
Earth Week Series: The Future of Environmental Regulation
As we near Earth Day 2022, the United States may be headed toward a profound change in the way EPA and similar administrative agencies regulate the complex areas of environmental law. EPA began operating more than 50 years ago in 1970, and has been tasked with promulgating and enforcing some of the most complex regulations… Continue reading
-
OSHA’s Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard Is Promulgated: The Countdown to a Legal Challenge Begins
On June 21, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had its Occupational Exposure to COVID-19, Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) published in the Federal Register, making it immediately effective on that date. 86 FR 32377 (June 21, 2021). OSHA has the authority to issue an ETS, for immediate application upon publication in the… Continue reading
29 USC §655(c)(1), 86 FR at 23280, 86 FR at 32617, anti-retaliation protections, breakthrough infection, CDC guidance, COVID-19, Emergency Rule, Emergency Temporary Standard, ETS, exposure, Federal Register, Fla. Peach Growers Ass’n, fully vaccinated employees, grave danger, health, illness, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, incurable, Is your workplace covered by the ETS, July 5 2021, mini respiratory protection program, Occupational Exposure to COVID-19, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSH Act, OSHA, paid vaccination leave, patient screening, permanent or fatal, PPE, ventilation standards, work-relatedness -
OSHA’s Updated COVID-19 Workplace Safety Guidance: Now Employers Have the Hard Part
On June 10, 2021, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its long-awaited response to President’s Biden’s January 21, 2021 Executive Order to OSHA, which had directed the agency to consider and, if necessary, by March 15, 2021, issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) in response to workplace hazards from COVID-19. With the… Continue reading
29 CFR part 1904, ASHRAE, at-risk, at-risk workers, barriers, Biden January 21 2021 Executive Order, CDC, cleaning chemicals, close contact, close contact situations, communal areas, communal housing, community exposure, contact tracing, COVID-19, customers, disinfect, distinctive factors, duration of contacts, EEOC, Emergency Temporary Standard, employee, employer’s obligations, employer-provided transport, employers, enforcement protocol, equal opportunity employment law, ETS, exposed, exposure, face covering, family member high risk, federal law, fully vaccinated, General Duty Clause, greater risk, grocery, guests, hazard assessment, healthcare, high-volume, human resource, immunocompromised, indoors, industries, industry, Interim Public Health Recommendation for Fully Vaccinated People, isolation, legal constraints, legal obligation, living quarters, local, manufacturing, May 13, Measures Appropriate for Higher Risk Workplaces with Mixed-Vaccination Status Workers, meat and poultry processing, MERV 13, non-excepted industry, OSH Act, OSHA, paid time off, physical distance, physical distancing, policies and procedures, policy and procedure, PPE, protect unvaccinated, protected worker, Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace, public, public health, public transportation, quarantine, reasonable accommodation, regulation, respirator, retail, return to work, rules, Safety, Sanitation, SARS-CoV-2 variant, schools, seafood processing, staggered work schedules, state, symptomatic, territorial, tribal, type of contacts, unvaccinated workers, updated guidance, updated OSHA guidance, vaccinated worker, vaccination, ventilation improvements, visitors, workplace flexibilities, workplace hazard -
Where is OSHA’s COVID-19 ETS? No Where the Ides of March.
On his first full day in office, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety, which required OSHA to “consider whether any emergency temporary standards on COVID 19, including with respect to masks in the workplace, are necessary,” and if so, to issue such emergency temporary standards (ETS) by March 15,… Continue reading
13999 § 2(b), 29 USC § 655(c), Biden Administration, COVID-19 Response, COVID‑19, Department of Labor, emergency temporary standards, ETS March 15 2021, Executive Order, hazard-free work environment, Infectious Disease, legal risk, National Strategy, OIG Report, OSHA, Pandemic Preparedness, reduced inspections, US Court of Appeals, vaccination rollout -
OSHA under Deadline for a Nationwide COVID 19 Workplace Safety Rule: Four States’ Existing Laws and New Federal Guidance and Orders Foretell the Future
On his first full day in office, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety, which required OSHA to “consider whether any emergency temporary standards on COVID‑19, including with respect to masks in the workplace, are necessary,” and if so, to issue such emergency temporary standards (ETS) by March 15, 2021. Executive… Continue reading
13999, 2021, 29 U.S.C. § 655(c), 49 U.S.C. § 20104, aerosol inhalation, Aerosol-Transmitted Disease, ani-retaliation, assess risks of exposure, § 2(b) (Jan. 21, best practice, California, CDC guidance, controls, COVID-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, emergency temporary standards, ETS, exposure, Federal Railroad Administration, General Duty Clause, Governor, guidance, Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19, hazard assessment, hazard of death, hygiene, Identification and Isolation of Sick Employees, Illness Prevention Plan, implementing controls, isolation, January 29, Jeffrey Zients, March 15, Michigan, OIG Report, Oregon, OSH Act, OSHA, Package Delivery Work, personal injury, PPE, President Biden, Protecting Worker Health and Safety, public health directives and orders, quarantine, regulation, return to work, Section 6(c), significant harm, social distancing, Standard Specification for Barrier Face Coverings, TSA, Virginia, workplace flexibilities training -
Biden Administration Takes New Action to Ensure Increased Consideration of Climate Change Impacts by the Federal Government
On Friday, February 19, 2021, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) rescinded prior draft guidance issued under the Trump Administration in 2019 (the “2019 Draft CEQ Guidance”), which had restricted the need for federal agencies to consider and quantify climate change impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Continue reading
-
U.S. EPA Embraces Prior Administration’s PFAS Drinking Water Proposals
On February 22, 2021, U.S. EPA announced that it was moving forward with implementation of several regulatory proposals issued in the waning days of the Trump Administration. First, U.S. EPA announced that it was finalizing its regulatory determination under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Continue reading
-
OSHA Issues Proposed Update to Hazard Communication Standard
On February 5, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule updating its Hazard Communication (“Haz Com”) Standard to align its rules with those in the seventh version of the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), published in 2017. Continue reading
-
Amazon Workers’ COVID-19 Workplace Safety Lawsuit Dismissed
On November 2, 2020, Judge Cogan of the U.S. District for the Eastern District of New York dismissed the amended complaint of workers at Amazon’s Staten Island JFK8 fulfillment center (“JFK8”) against their employer over its alleged non-compliance with state and federal public health guidance and law during the COVID 19 pandemic. Continue reading
Amazon, breach of duty to provide a safe workplace, CDC, control the spread, COVID-19, COVID-19 leave, essential worker, extraordinary burden, general public, global pandemic, good faith, Inc., inconsistent rulings, irreparable harm, JFK8 fulfillment center, Judge Cogan, liability, meat plant, New York Labor Law, NYLL § 191, OSHA, paid sick leave, Palmer. v. Amazon, preliminary injunctive relief, protect the safety of workers, public health, public nuisance claim, reduce risk, reduce the protection for COVID-19 exposure, Rural Community Workers Alliance (“RCWA”) v. Smithfield Foods, work risk, workplace claim, workplace policies, workplace safety