By A. Scott Hecker, Adam R. Young, Patrick D. Joyce, Mark A. Lies, James L. Curtis, Daniel R. Birnbaum, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has just announced a National Emphasis Program to prevent falls, the leading cause of fatal workplace injuries and the violation the agency cites most frequently in construction
Continue Reading OSHA Announces a National Emphasis Program to Reduce and Prevent Workplace Falls
By Brent I. Clark, Patrick D. Joyce, Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Daniel R. Birnbaum, and Melissa A. Ortega
Seyfarth Synopsis: This week we are attending the ABA Workplace and Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee Midwinter Meeting in San Diego, California. The meeting includes representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, including
Continue Reading Report From Day 3 of The 2023 ABA OSHA/MSHA Law ConferenceBy Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Mark A. Lies, II, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Florida Roofing Experts Inc. – a Jacksonville, Florida, roofing contractor, for failing to protect workers from falls at two work sites, with proposed penalties totaling
Continue Reading OSHA Proposes Over $1M in Fines Against Florida Roofing Contractor for Egregious Fall Hazards
By Brent I. Clark, Benjamin D. Briggs, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: A construction contractor twice orders, via text message, his employees to work on a roof, and both times the employees fall through. The contractor later testifies in a deposition that he did not ask them to work on the roof.
Continue Reading What Not to Do: Construction Contractor Charged With Lying to OSHA
By Mark A. Lies, II, James L. Curtis, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: A contractor’s employee fell 36 feet while working at a warehouse construction site and not using fall-protection equipment. Following a bench trial before the District Court, the Defendant contractor DNRB, Inc. was convicted of a Class B misdemeanor for
Continue Reading History Comes Back to Bite Employer — Criminal Conviction and $500,000 Fine Upheld in Eighth Circuit for Violating Fall Protection Regulations
By Brent I. Clark, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen
Federal OSHA has recently revised and re-published its “General Industry Digest” (Digest). OSHA 2201-08R 2015.
The Digest gives an overview of OSHA’s general industry standards to aid employers, supervisors, workers, and safety and health professionals in achieving compliance.
The Digest provides summaries of the “standards
Continue Reading OSHA Updates “General Industry Digest”
By James L. Curtis, Kerry M. Mohan, and Craig B. Simonsen
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 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
This week David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, wrote a letter to the communication tower industry about the rise in falls from communication towers, indicating that “every single one of these tragedies was preventable.”
According to Michaels, the industry has experienced an “alarming increase in
Continue Reading Michaels Warns Communication Tower Industry About “Preventable” Worker Deaths
By James L. Curtis and Meagan Newman
As much the East Coast of the U.S. is dealing with Hurricane Sandy it is important to keep in mind that the dangers of a storm of this magnitude persist long after the winds, rains and sleet have passed.
Storm and flood cleanup activities can present hazards to workers and volunteers. Before embarking
Continue Reading After the Storm: Clean-up is Hazardous so Plan Accordingly