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Many attorneys on the business and legal sides of transactions involving the transfer of real property have developed working knowledge of the primary purposes of performing Phase I environmental due diligence: (1) gain information on the environmental conditions of a property; (2) establish defenses to CERCLA liability; (3) secure lending; and (4) secure insurance.

Many attorneys are also generally familiar…
Continue Reading Environmental Due Diligence: Basics For Real Estate Attorneys — Part I: What is a REC, Anyway?

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new Directive that is for training OSHA representatives in communicating investigation procedures with family members following a workplace fatality. Communicating OSHA Fatality Inspection Procedures to a Victim’s Family, CPL 02-00-153.

The Directive seeks to “ensures that OSHA representatives speak to the…

Continue Reading OSHA Issues New Directive on Communicating with Family Members Following Workplace Fatality

By James L. Curtis and Kerry M. Mohan

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recently announced its new policy regarding employee participation in the investigation of serious chemical accidents.  The CSB’s new policy provides ten new rights to employees:

  1. At unionized sites, the CSB will notify the facility’s union(s) of its plans to investigate.  At non-union sites, the CSB

…
Continue Reading Chemical Safety Board Expands Employee Participation In Investigations

By Mark A. Lies II and Elizabeth Leifel Ash

In July 2010, OSHA began an inspection of Haasbach, LLC following the death of two teenage workers at a Mt. Carroll, Illinois grain elevator.  The employees became entrapped in corn more than 30 feet deep in the elevator and suffocated.  During the OSHA investigation, OSHA issued a document subpoena to Haasbach’s…

Continue Reading District Court Creates Conflict Between Insurer And Insured Over Safety Inspection Reports