By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, and Craig B. Simonsen

Safety at workThe U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week an expansion of its worker endangerment initiative to address worker safety violations through the use of enhanced criminal fines and penalties.

According to Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates, “on an average
Continue Reading Enhanced Criminal Prosecutions of Worker Safety Violations – Employers Beware

By Erin Dougherty Foley and Craig B. Simonsen

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Center for Motor Vehicle Safety (CMVS), through its NIOSH Science Blog, recently featured the Drive Safely Work Week campaign. The event is scheduled for this week, October 5-9, 2015.

Drive Safely Work Week is sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic
Continue Reading NIOSH Drive Safely Work Week 2015 – Is Your Company (and its Policies) Ready?

By Mark A. Lies, II, James L. Curtis, and Craig B. Simonsen

iStock_000009254156LargeIn a decision last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) found that the six month statute of limitations for OSHA to cite an employer does not apply to Process Safety Management (PSM) violations that present a continuing hazard. Secretary of Labor v. Delek
Continue Reading OSHRC Rules Process Safety Violations NOT Barred By OSHA’s Six Month Statute of Limitations

By James L. Curtis, Kerry M. Mohan, and Craig B. Simonsen

http://social.dol.gov/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Tower-chart1.jpg
http://social.dol.gov/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Tower-chart1.jpg

Last October OSHA Administrator David Michaels had, stated that “we at OSHA are very concerned about the rising number of tower worker deaths. The fatality rate in this industry is extraordinarily high – tower workers are killed on the job at a rate
Continue Reading OSHA Rulemaking on Communication Tower Worker Safety

By Wan Li, Brent I. Clark, and Craig B. Simonsen
According to Cai Renjun, an official from the People’s Republic of China, Legislative Affairs Commission, of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, “about 70,000 people died in work safety cases last year, [with] about 60,000 of them in road accidents.” Policy Watch, China Daily (August 26, 2014).
Continue Reading International Employers Watch Out: China Will Assign Hefty Fines for Worker Safety Violations

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

In recent remarks by OSHA Administrator David Michaels at the “DOL-FCC Workshop on Tower Climber Safety and Injury Prevention,” Michaels indicated that “we at OSHA are very concerned about the rising number of tower worker deaths. The fatality rate in this industry is extraordinarily high – tower workers are killed on the
Continue Reading OSHA Prepares “Request for Information” to Prevent Communication Tower “Tragedies”

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

In response to an August 1, 2013 Executive Order 13650, OSHA has requested comments (78 Fed. Reg. 73756) on potential revisions to its Process Safety Management (PSM) standard, its Explosives and Blasting Agents standard, its Flammable Liquids standard, its Spray Finishing standard, and potential changes to its PSM enforcement policies.
Continue Reading OSHA Request for Information on “Modernization” of its PSM Standard

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

In what appears to be part of OSHA’s ongoing campaign to prevent fall accidents and injuries, OSHA’s Region V announced earlier this year a Local Emphasis Program to address Fall Hazards in General Industry and Construction.

The Emphasis Programs provides the “basis for scheduling and conducting safety inspections of construction and
Continue Reading OSHA Emphasis Program For Fall Hazards in Construction and General Industry

By Mark A. Lies, II, Kerry M. Mohan, and Craig B. Simonsen

A former safety manager at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Nuclear Site was sentenced to 78 months in prison for major fraud.

The safety manager had allegedly hidden over 80 injuries to obtain over $2.5 million in safety bonuses. He was convicted at trial in November 2012,
Continue Reading False Injury Logs Can Do More Than Lead to OSHA Citations: Safety Manager Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Major Fraud

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

A recently published study presented at a National Occupational Injury Research Symposium found that Hispanic or foreign-born construction workers were over sixty percent more likely to have fatal falls from roofs than most other workers!

The study, Fatal Falls from Roofs Among U.S. Construction Workers, was published in the Journal of

Continue Reading Fatal Falls and Accidents Involving Foreign-Born and English as a Second Language Speaking Workers in the US