On Safety

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The Department of Labor’s Spring 2022 regulatory agenda was published June 21. In regard to OSHA, frankly, it’s disappointing.

On April 8, OSHA launched its long-awaited National Emphasis Program on outdoor and indoor heat hazards. A compliance directive (OSHA Instruction CPL 03-00-0240) describes agency policies and procedures related to the NEP. The program targets specific industries that OSHA considers to have the highest exposure potential to heat-related hazards and resulting illnesses and deaths.

SHARP and VPP are excellent programs, but what’s the difference between them?

Despite the recent withdrawal of OSHA’s emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 vaccination, testing and masking and the partial withdrawal of the agency’s ETS on COVID-19 for health care workers, a lot of questions remain regarding mask and respirator use.

The unified agenda is intended to let the “regulated community” know what the different agencies are working on, or planning to work on, over the next six months. It’s an interesting document. Some administrations put everything they can think of on it – whether they’re actually working on it or not. Others keep it simple by listing only what they’re actually intending to work on. My preference has always been the latter.

Many employers have questions about OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements – and the criteria for recordability – regarding COVID-19.

OSHA requires that operators of powered industrial trucks be trained before operating the equipment independently. That training must consist of instruction – classroom (lecture based) and practical training – on the safe and proper operation of the PIT, the hazards of operating the vehicle in the workplace, and the requirements of the OSHA standard on PITs.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit recently issued a decision (No. 19-9533) on the appeal of OSHA citations related to process safety management at the Wynnewood Refinery in Wynnewood, OK. The court ruled in favor of the agency.

The Top 10 violations cited by OSHA for both construction and general industry demonstrated that most of the cited hazards were directed at employee exposure most likely to result in fatalities and serious injuries.

Here, we’ll look at the top violations issued by OSHA in FY 2020 in these industries: Petroleum and coal products (NAICS 324), food manufacturing (NAICS 311), forestry and logging services (NAICS 113) and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 562).