As temperatures begin to fall, employers often focus their winter safety efforts on obvious seasonal hazards such as snow, ice, and freezing outdoor conditions. A comprehensive winter safety program, however, can address a broader and sometimes counterintuitive range of hazards.
Federal OSHA does not have a comprehensive standard devoted specifically to occupational exposure to cold. That does not mean winter
Continue Reading Getting Ready for Winter Safety Hazards
Employers often approach workplace accidents and resulting OSHA citations as discrete regulatory events — managed by safety teams, resolved through settlement or litigation, and ultimately closed. As many employers come to learn, OSHA inspections and citations frequently serve as the entry point into a much broader and more complex risk landscape—one that can implicate criminal exposure, expand into multiple forms
Continue Reading Not Just OSHA: Understanding the Expanding Web of Criminal, Civil, and Business Risks from Workplace Accidents
Seyfarth Synopsis: Federal OSHA has proposed new rulemakings seek to minimize respiratory protection requirements for employers which may require employers to update practices in 2026.
In June 2026, OSHA has advanced a proposal to amend the Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) and scheduled virtual public hearings on this and other proposed rulemakings.
1. What’s the Change to the Respiratory
Continue Reading OSHA Proposes New Rules on Respiratory Protection and 20 Other Standards
By: Ilana Morady
Cal/OSHA recently issued a revised draft of its general industry workplace violence prevention standard, offering the clearest indication yet of how the Division intends to build on SB 553. Although the rule is not final, the current draft reflects meaningful stakeholder input and signals where compliance expectations are likely headed. Employers should treat it as a practical
Continue Reading Cal/OSHA’s Draft Workplace Violence Standard: What Employers Should Know
Our OSHA Practice Group wrapped up the final full day of the ABA Workplace and Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee’s Midwinter Meeting in San Juan with sessions that took a deep dive into the future of AI in safety, trial advocacy in OSHA litigation, necessary modernization of longstanding OSHA standards, and the ethical landscape surrounding inspections and citations. Here
Continue Reading ABA OSHA Midwinter Meeting – Day 3 Recap (February 27)
We are in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the American Bar Association’s Workplace Occupational Safety and Health committee’s midwinter meeting. Today’s sessions featured panels of employer and defense attorneys, representatives from various non-profit organizations dedicated to workers safety, and state regulatory agencies discussing the impact of recent deregulation, discrepancy in inspections and enforcement, and the evolution of state plans.
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Continue Reading Report From Day 1 of the 2026 ABA OSH Law Conference
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers often fail to appreciate the ramifications of industrial hygiene data and medical records. Even non-detect records must be maintained for 30+ years and provided to employees or representatives upon request.
OSHA’s Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records standard, 29 CFR § 1910.1020, is one of the most frequently misunderstood — and quietly enforced — provisions in
Continue Reading Employee Exposure Records and Medical Records: Avoiding OSHA Citations and Defending Against Future Workers’ Compensation, Tort, and ADA Claims
Under OSHA’s General Duty Clause, employers must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death. OSHA regulations require PPE and respiratory protection where necessitated by the hazards at the workplace. Infectious diseases represent a recognized hazard at many workplaces across the United States (particularly in healthcare) and employers must implement appropriate procedures to protect
Continue Reading Navigating the New Public Health Environment: How Employers Should Approach CDC and NIOSH Guidance on Health Hazards in the Trump Administration
Seyfarth Synopsis: New York requires hospitals and nursing home employers to implement written workplace violence prevention plans, including hazard assessments, training, and incident logging within the year.
Health care employers have long faced liabilities relating to workplace violence, most commonly from patients and visitors. Although no federal OSHA standards currently provide requirements for workplace violence in health care (though
Continue Reading New York Latest State to Institute Workplace Violence Prevention Program Requirements for Hospitals and Nursing Homes
Employers with sophisticated safety programs implement overarching Safety and Health Management Systems (“SHMS”, also called Injury and Illness Prevention Plans and Accident Prevention Plans) to ensure that they properly assess hazards, select appropriate safety controls, evaluate safety performance, and engage employees. Federal OSHA recommends an SHMS and routinely demands the development of an SHMS to settle OSHA cases involving serious
Continue Reading Minimizing OSHA Liabilities Through Psychological Safety