If you are like me, when you first heard that Congress and the President had agreed upon a bipartisan budget bill that would fund the government for the next two years, you said to yourself, “It’s about time.” But as proof that nothing comes free, buried deep in the bill is a provision that will raise the maximum OSHA fines by over 50 percent in 2016.
General contractors at construction sites are being held to a higher level of responsibility for coordinating the safety activities of contractors when it comes to confined spaces in what may be a little-noticed provision of a new OSHA standard.
Safety professionals should have the concepts of “acceptable risk” and “feasibility” top of mind, especially when it comes to lockout/tagout or guarding.
New OSHA recordkeeping rules that went into effect this year are creating confusion among employers about the definition of an amputation and how to quickly determine if an incident that occurred after work hours is actually work-related, according to an article in Business Insurance magazine.
A federal appeals court has ruled against OSHA in a case stemming from a fatal accident involving a lathe at a manufacturing plant, saying that the agency’s interpretation of its regulations on machine guards “strains a common sense reading.”
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While the overall rate of fatal workplace accidents remained steady in 2014 compared with the year before, there was a significant increase in fatalities caused by falls, slips and trips, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
While the recent joint-employer ruling by the National Labor Relations Board does not directly impact other employment laws, such as the OSH Act, it does highlight a growing movement by OSHA to hold companies responsible for the health and safety of workers supplied by staffing agencies – which can have significant consequences for employers.
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Many companies find they are not always sure how to apply OSHA standards to everyday work situations. One solution: Ask OSHA for clarification.