The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld OSHA’s multi-employer citation policyin a reversal of a decision the Commission made during the previous administration. Under the policy, OSHA inspectors may cite employers on multi-employer worksites for violations that do not expose their own workers to occupational hazards. For example, a general contractor who controls the worksite may be responsible for violations created by a subcontractor whose workers are exposed to safety or health hazards. In reaching its Aug. 19 decision,* the Commission agreed with an earlier decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had rejected the Commission’s previous contrary view that employers are only legally responsible for protecting the safety and health of their own workers. The case under consideration involved Summit Contractors Inc., a general contractor constructing an apartment complex in Lebanon, Pa., in 2005. An OSHA compliance officer cited Summit for a safety violation after observing workers of a subcontractor using electrical equipment that lacked ground fault circuit interrupters and which had been brought onto the worksite by Summit.

For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.

On August 31, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration published interim final rules that will help protect workers who voice safety, health, and security concerns. The regulations, which establish procedures for handling worker retaliation complaints, allow filing by phone as well as in writing and filing in languages other than English.  To view the complete rule click here Federal Register.

The regulations, which cover workers filing complaints in the railroad, public transit, commercial motor carrier, and consumer product industries, also create greater consistency among various OSHA complaint procedures. The interim final rules establish procedures and time frames for handling complaints under the whistleblower sections of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. 

These regulations are effective immediately. Comments must be submitted by Nov. 1, 2010, and can be sent to www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or by mail or fax.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 18 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various commercial motor carrier, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, railroad, public transportation, securities, and health care reform laws.  New fact sheets on these statutes and additional information will be available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.

On August 17^th the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs published proposed regulations implementing amendments to the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), relating to the exclusion of certain recreational-vessel workers from the LHWCA’s definition of ‘‘employee.’’ These regulations seek to clarify both the definition of ‘‘recreational vessel’’ and those circumstances under which workers are excluded from LHWCA coverage when working on those vessels. 

The proposed rules also codify the Department’s longstanding view that employees are covered under the LHWCA so long as SOME of their work constitutes ‘‘maritime employment’’ within the meaning of the statute. 

Please click here for the proposed regulations. The Department is inviting written comments on the proposed rule from interested parties and is particularly interested in receiving comments regarding the proposed definition of ‘‘recreational vessel.’’ Written comments must be received by October 18, 2010.

 Comments should be submitted in writing, identified by RIN number 1240–AA02, by any of the following methods. To facilitate the receipt and processing of comment letters, OWCP encourages interested parties to submit their comments electronically.

OSHA today that it will host a Web Forum to seek stakeholder input in identifying hazardous chemicals for which OSHA should develop exposure reduction strategies.

Workers exposed to chemicals suffer injuries and illnesses that can damage virtually all body parts and systems, including the lungs, skin, liver, kidneys, eyes, and mucous membranes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that workers suffered more than 55,000 illnesses related to chemical exposures in 2007 and nearly 17,500 chemical-related injuries and illnesses resulted in workers spending days away from work. This is likely an underestimate because often the effects of chemical exposures are frequently not recognized until years after exposure. As a result, work-related disease often goes unreported since a worker or physician may not attribute the effect to an exposure that occurred on the job many years before.

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OSHA’s 10 regional administrators have been directed in a memo by OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels to revise how the current penalty calculation system contained in the Field Operations Manual is being used in enforcement proceedings. The administrative penalty changes are scheduled to take effect over the next several months.

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OSHA is launching a pilot program seeking to partner with building inspectors in 11 U.S. cities to reduce injuries and fatalities at construction sites.

Under this program, building inspectors would notify OSHA when they observe, during the course of their work, unsafe work conditions. OSHA, in turn, would send a federal agency compliance officer to that workplace for a safety inspection.

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The Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is inviting interested parties to participate in informal stakeholder meetings on Injury and Illness Prevention Programs (I2P2).  The agency plans to use information gathered at the meeting to develop an Injury and Illness Prevention Program proposed rule.  OSHA believes the information provided will assist employers in reducing workplace injuries and illnesses through a systematic process that proactively addresses workplace safety and health hazards.

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The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council has issued a final rule implementing Executive Order 13502 on the use of project labor agreements  (PLAs) on federal construction projects, giving contracting agencies broad discretion to determine whether to impose a PLA mandate on a project, when the PLA should be executed, and what terms the PLA will contain.

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President Barack Obama on October 28, 2010, signed into law $33.5 billion spending bill to fund government energy and water programs for the 2010 fiscal year.

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