PAINTSQUARE BLOG CONTRIBUTORS

OSHA’s Top Regulatory Priorities… Other than COVID-19
By Eric J. Conn

OSHA has been quite busy the last few months on the rulemaking front, and it does not seem to be slowing down. Despite the fact that COVID-19 still sucks most of the air out of the room, over the last... READ MORE

OSHA Proposes Changes to E-Recordkeeping Rule
By Eric J. Conn

After years of advocacy for change to (or the recission of) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's controversial Obama-era rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” (... READ MORE

The State-Federal OSHA Tug-of-War
By Eric J. Conn

A fascinating jurisdictional tug-of-war has broken out between federal OSHA and a few fed-OSHA-approved state OSH programs, in relation to OSHA’s Final Rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries ... READ MORE

Repeat Violations: OSHA's Unlimited Look-Back Window
By Eric J. Conn

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued an opinion granting OSHA the ultimate leeway to characterize citations as "Repeat." The case involved a Repeat excavation-related OSHA ... READ MORE

OSHA Civil Penalties On the Rise Again
By Eric J. Conn

As of Jan. 2, civil penalties for workplace safety and health violations issued by federal OSHA increased again by two percent across the board. Although a two percent increase does not shock the syst... READ MORE

Reporting Inpatient Hospitalizations to OSHA: Common Misunderstandings and Mistakes
By Eric J. Conn

There are several nuances employers routinely miss that affect the determination of whether a hospitalization is actually reportable to OSHA.... READ MORE

OSHA Delays Electronic Recordkeeping Rule
By Eric J. Conn

In a dramatic, but not unexpected, move last month, OSHA suspended this controversial data submission requirement with no word on when—or whether—a new deadline would be set for the data submission.... READ MORE

Trump's Budget and the Department of Labor
By Eric J. Conn

The Trump Administration submitted a blueprint budget for 2018 to Congress proposing $2.5 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Labor’s operating budget. ... READ MORE

OSHA's Slips, Trips and Falls Rule Revamped
By Eric J. Conn

On January 17, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new Walking-Working Surfaces Rule took effect, updating OSHA regulations that have been in place for nearly a half century. ... READ MORE

OSHA’s Anti-Retaliation Recordkeeping Rule, Part 4
By Eric J. Conn

Following the enactment of this controversial rule [the Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation], eight industry groups and companies—among them, Associated Builders and... READ MORE

OSHA’s Anti-Retaliation Recordkeeping Rule, Part 3
By Eric J. Conn

OSHA has expressed particular concern with the supposed chilling effect and retaliatory nature of employee incentive programs used by many employers across industries.... READ MORE

OSHA’s Anti-Retaliation Recordkeeping Rule, Part 2
By Eric J. Conn

The new “workers’ rights” anti-retaliation provisions of the updated Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation add language to 29 C.F.R. §§ 1904.35 (employee involvement) ... READ MORE

OSHA’s Anti-Retaliation Recordkeeping Rule, Part 1
By Eric J. Conn

OSHA’s recent reform to its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation has created quite a stir for employers.... READ MORE

OSHA Civil Penalties Spike
By Eric J. Conn

On June 30, the U.S. Department of Labor issued an Interim Final Rule to implement the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvements Act passed last fall as part of the highly publicized B... READ MORE

OSHA’s Enforcement Weighting System
By Eric J. Conn

Over the course of this year, employers can expect to see longer, more comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections that focus on complex safety and health hazards. ... READ MORE

OSHA vs. DC Court: Statute of Limitations
By Eric J. Conn

Late last year I wrote about a significant rulemaking to amend OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping regulations to require employers to proactively submit their injury logs and reports to OSHA on a... READ MORE

OSHA Withdraws Long-Planned Rule to Reduce Slips, Trips and Falls
By Eric J. Conn

In what can only be viewed as another example of OSHA’s inability to effectively advance its rulemaking agenda, the federal agency recently withdrew its quarter-century-in-the-making draft Final Rule ... READ MORE

OSHA Criminal Cases on the Rise
By Eric J. Conn

In the 40-plus years since Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act, there have been more than 400,000 workplace fatalities, yet fewer than 80 total OSH Act criminal cases have been pro... READ MORE

OSHA’s Web Reporting Tool: Use with Caution
By Eric J. Conn

In addition to employers’ longstanding obligation, as of Jan. 1, 2015, to report to OSHA all work-related fatalities within 8 hours, all employers were required to also begin reporting to OSHA, within... READ MORE

Should You Demand an OSHA Warrant?
By Eric J. Conn

Perhaps the most common question I am asked about OSHA inspections is... READ MORE

OSHA’s Full-Time Enforcement Policy for Temporary Workers
By Eric J. Conn

In April 2013, OSHA declared that protecting temporary workers would become a top priority.... READ MORE

Battling the Employer Blacklist
By Eric J. Conn

On July 13, 2014, President Obama executed Executive Order 1376: “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.” On May 28, 2015, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council (composed of the Defense Departmen... READ MORE

OSHA Missteps on SVEP
By Eric J. Conn

It’s been five years since OSHA launched its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, and two years since an agency White Paper trumpeted the program’s “strong start” and progress on “key goals.”... READ MORE

Beware of Stepped-Up Reporting Rules
By Eric J. Conn

This month has brought an unwelcome announcement from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration: a sweeping amendment to its Injury & Illness Recordkeeping regulations.... READ MORE

Opening a Loophole for Stale Claims
By Eric J. Conn

On May 21, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a memo discussing a new agreement about a back-door route for employees to file safety-related whistleblower claims that are too st... READ MORE

Staying Safely on a Roll
By Eric J. Conn

Fall hazards are always among the top Occupa­tional Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforcement priorities. These violations rank among the most frequently cited year after year.... READ MORE

Sick Over Illness/Injury Reporting Plan
By Eric J. Conn

Intrusive and burdensome are just two of the words we used in reporting earlier on OSHA’s proposed new Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting rule.... READ MORE

Know Your Rights When OSHA Calls
By Eric J. Conn

I was recently asked an interesting question: “Employers often are told to know and exercise their rights during an OSHA inspection. What exactly are those rights?”... READ MORE