Category: OSHA

Today, OSHA Chronicle (“OC”) sits down with safety and health consultant John Bednarik (“JB”).

OC: Hi John. To start, can you share your safety and health background with our readers?

JB: Of course. Prior to starting my own safety and health consultant company which focuses on safety and accident investigations for OSHA compliance in the workplace, I spent 22 years working for OSHA of which 5 of those were as an Assistant Area Director. During my time with OSHA, I conducted approximately 1000 on-site inspections and supervised about another 1000. Approximately 130 of those investigations were fatality cases. I also have been consulting labor law attorneys with their construction cases. Prior to OSHA I was a tool and die maker, tool room manager, plant manager in machine trades for 30 years which served as a segue into Federal OSHA.

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Happy New Year!

After approximately a decade of discussing a properly fitting PPE Rule in the construction industry, OSHA’s Final Rule becomes effective January 13, 2025. The Final Rule explicitly requires that PPE is selected to ensure that it “property fits” affected employees.

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When California’s workplace violence prevention law took effect on July 1, 2024, it joined a handful of other states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, that have some type of similar law. On September 4, 2024, Governor Hochul signed into law the New York Retail Worker Safety Act, which is intended to increase safety in the retail industry. Covered New York employers will be required to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan, which must include: (1) a list of factors or situations that may place retail employees at risk of workplace violence; (2) methods to prevent incidents of workplace violence; (3) information on legal provisions regarding violence against retail employees and remedies for victims; and (4) an anti-retaliation statement. Most provisions will take effect on March 1, 2025. New York will also require employee training in areas such as de-escalation techniques, active shooter drills, emergency procedures, and instructions on using security alarms, panic buttons, and other emergency devices. Notably, employers with 500 or more retail employees nationwide will also be required to provide access to panic buttons in the workplace or equip each employee with a wearable or mobile, company-issued panic button by January 1, 2027.

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OSHA requires employers to report a fatality or severe injury (“SIR”). Generally, a fatality must be reported within 8 hours, and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours. Information about the SIR requirement can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/report.

After an SIR is filed, OSHA will normally conduct a formal inspection or request information about the SIR to determine whether further investigation is necessary. If employers receive an information request, it is important that they provide timely and sufficient information to OSHA regarding the root cause of the SIR and abatement efforts to avoid a formal inspection. Although every case is different, it is generally not recommended to simply complete the non-mandatory investigation questionnaire; rather, it is recommended to submit a concise and focused position statement addressing OSHA’s questions and other relevant information to assist OSHA in its assessment.

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Pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act, OSHA increases the maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations from $15,625 per violation to $16,131 per violation. In addition, the maximum penalty for willful or repeat violations increased from $156,259 per violation to $161,323 per violation. The increases became effective as of January 16, 2024.

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As we head into 2023, employers can expect to see more aggressive OSHA enforcement. BNA reported that the number of OSHA inspectors grew 19% in the fiscal year 2022. This was not surprising given the significant increase to OSHA’s FY 2021 budget, which earmarked funds to hire new OSHA inspectors. Moreover, the Biden administration has requested 701 million for OSHA in the fiscal year 2023, which is approximately $89 million more than OSHA received in 2022, so increased hiring and more frequent inspections are likely to continue past 2023. 

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