The document summarizes OSHA regulations and activities for 2015, including new injury reporting requirements, enforcement initiatives, and pending rulemaking. It notes that all work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and loss of eyes must now be reported within 8 and 24 hours respectively. OSHA is also pursuing more aggressive enforcement around recordkeeping, whistleblower protections, and temporary worker safety. Several regulations are expected to be finalized in 2015 covering topics like cranes, silica, and respiratory protection.

2. The Workplace Safety Report
OSHA for 2015

3. Ben Huggett
Shareholder
Littler, Philadelphia
Steve Biddle
Shareholder
Littler, Phoenix
Marc Freedman
Executive Director of Labor
Law Policy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Tom Metzger
Shareholder
Littler, Columbus

4. Marc Freedman, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
National Policy Issues

5. • Feb. 2013 letter responding to Dec. 2012 inquiry from
United Steelworkers
• Employees at non-union workplace can designate a union
representative as their representative to accompany OSHA
inspector on walk-arounds
• Regs say rep “shall be” employee of company or third party
with particular expertise— such as IH
• Will help unions and others use OSHA inspections as
organizing, harassment tool
OSHA LOI Allowing Union Reps to Accompany
OSHA Inspectors at Non-Union Workplaces

6. • Would require employers to submit logs to OSHA only
electronically
– Employers with 250 or more employees would have to
submit quarterly
– Employers with 20-249 employees would only have to
submit summaries annually
• Records would then be published on internet with company
and incident specific information
– No statutory authority to publish records
• Requested by AFL-CIO in submission to Obama transition
• OSHA can’t say how it will protect employee information
Proposed Injury and Illness Electronic
Reporting Regulation

7. • OSHA will grant itself the authority to issue citations against
an employer for perceived efforts at suppressing
employees from coming forward
• Will not require an employee filing a complaint as statute
requires, e.g. without a whistleblower!
– Driven by union comments at public meeting
– No data, studies supporting this
– NEP on recordkeeping did not establish any employer
behavior of this nature
• Proposed regulation had not one word of proposed
regulatory text, nor any of the other features of an OSHA
rulemaking
Supplemental NPRM Revising
Whistleblower Enforcement

8. Changes for 2015
OSHA Injury and Illness
Reporting

9. • Employers must record work-related injuries and illnesses
that meet a specified threshold criteria.
– Basic First Aid cases are not recordable
• Employers must report specific work-related incidents.
The Basic Rules

10. Reporting to OSHA
No exempt employers! Everyone must report!
• Report all work-related Fatalities within 8 hours
– includes only work-related heart attacks
– includes terrorist attacks
– excludes automobile accidents
on public roads
• Excepting construction work zones
– excludes commercial plane train,
or bus accidents
If death occurs more than 30 days after a work-related
incident, it is not reportable.

11. • Within 24 hours, report all work-related:
– in-patient hospitalization of any employee(s)
• Was previously 3 or more employees in
8 hours
– amputations
• includes loss of fingertip, without
bone loss
– loss of an eye
Must be reported to OSHA only if they occur
within 24 hours of the work-related incident.
Reporting to OSHA in 2015

12. State Plan States – 1/01/2016

13. Reporting Changes Impact
• OSHA estimates 25,000 new reports in the states
that it covers
– additional new reports for State Plans
• OSHA Inspections?
– Investigation
– Report
– Corrective actions
• Online Publication by OSHA

14. • OSHA does not have the right to conduct random
inspections!
• OSHA is being aggressive, but they must have Probable
Cause to conduct an inspection.
• Complaint
• Referral
• Fatality/Catastrophe
• Neutral Program
– National Emphasis Program
– Local Emphasis Program
Enforcement Inspections

15. OSHA Enforcement and Practices
Other 2015 Activities

16. • Interviewees have rights
– Hourly employees
– Management employees
– Audio or Video taping is not mandatory
– Written statements are not required
• Representation During Walkaround Inspection
Interviews & Walkarounds

17. • Presumed Joint Employment
– Citations to both the Host and the Agency
• OSHA – NIOSH Recommended Practices
– Hazard Assessment of Host (hire consultant)
– Train workers to recognize hazards
– Pre-qualification evaluation of programs
– Contractual Agreement
– Injury and Illness Tracking
– Site specific training (equal to host employees)
– Injury Illness Prevention Program
– Incident Investigations
– Continuing contact with workers
Temporary Worker Initiative

18. HazCom GHS Updates
• It’s not that scary.
Effective Completion Date Requirement(s) Who
December 1, 2013
Train employees on the new label elements and
SDS format.
Employers
June 1, 2015*
December 1, 2015
Comply with all modified provisions of this final
rule, except:
Distributors may ship products labeled by
manufacturers under the old system until
December 1, 2015.
Chemical
manufacturers,
importers, distributors
and employers
June 1, 2016
Update alternative workplace labeling and
hazard communication program as necessary,
and provide additional employee training for
newly identified physical or health hazards.
Employers
Transition Period
Comply with either 29 CFR 1910.1200 (this final
standard), or the current standard, or both.
All chemical
manufacturers,
importers, distributors
and employers

19. • Chemical Manufacturers, Importers and Distributors receive
consideration for not completing updated SDS and labels if:
– Information is not provided by the supplier
– Exercise of reasonable diligence and good faith
• Developed and documented the process used to gather
classification information from suppliers and status
• Documented efforts to get information from other sources
• Documented account of continued dialogue with suppliers
• Documented account of continued dialogue with
distributors
• Developed course of action for completion of SDS and
labels
– Development of SDS and labels within 6 months
– Shipment of revised label products within 6 months
GHS Updates Extension

20. 5 key differences from General Industry
• Coordinated activities when there are multiple employers at the
worksite to ensure hazards are not introduced into a confined
space by workers performing tasks outside the space.
• Requiring a competent person to evaluate the work site and
identify confined spaces, including permit spaces.
• Requiring continuous atmospheric monitoring whenever
possible.
• Requiring continuous monitoring of engulfment hazards.
• Allowing for the suspension of a permit, instead of cancellation,
in the event of changes from the entry conditions list on the
permit or an unexpected event requiring evacuation of the space.
Confined Spaces In Construction

21. 26 Regulations
• Cranes and Derricks – March
• Respiratory Protection – March
• Walking Working Surfaces - June
• Silica – complete comment review – June
• Electronic Recordkeeping & Reporting – August
– Online availability
– Reverse Volks decision
• Injury Illness Prevention Program – long term
Pending Rulemaking

22. Whistleblower Complaints FY’14
http://www.whistleblowers.gov/whistleblower/wb_data_FY05-14.pdf
OSHA 11(c)
SOX
STAA
FRSA
Charges Received by OSHA ACA
AHERA
AIR21
CFPA
CPSIA
EPA
ERA
FRSA
FSMA
ISCA
MAP21
NTSSA
OSHA
PSIA
SOX
SPA
STAA

24. © 2015 Littler Mendelson, P.C.