A review of the Top 10 issues employers will face with OSHA in the year 2015

1. OSHA Issues and Update:
Top 10 Things Everyone Should
Know About OSHA in 2015
Presented by:
Thomas Benjamin “Ben” Huggett
January 2015

2. www.osha.gov
Thomas Benjamin Huggett
Littler Mendelson, P.C.
1601 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
tbhuggett@littler.com
(267) 402-3035
Presented by: Official Resources and Text

3. 1. Injury and Illness Reporting and
Recordkeeping
• Must directly report to OSHA
– Within 8 hours
• All work-related fatalities
– Within 24 hours
• All work-related inpatient hospitalizations of one or more employees
• All work-related amputations
• All work-related losses of an eye
• Employers must record work related injuries and
illnesses that meet a specified threshold criteria.
– Basic First Aid cases are not recordable
• Posting Form 300A
– Signature
• Safety Incentive Programs

4. 2. Inspections
• 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

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

6. 4. Top 10 OSHA Citations
https://www.osha.gov/Top_Ten_Standards.html

7. 5. Global Harmonization System
• 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

8. 6. Asbestos
• 1910.1001(j)(3)(i)Building and facility owners
shall determine the presence, location, and
quantity of ACM and/or PACM at the work site.
Employers and building and facility owners shall
exercise due diligence in complying with these
requirements to inform employers and
employees about the presence and location of
ACM and PACM.

9. 7. Self Imposed Obligations and the
General Duty Clause
• Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act requires that
“[e]ach employer...furnish to each of his
employees employment and a place of
employment which are free from recognized
hazards that are causing or are likely to cause
death or serious physical harm...”
• Company safety programs can establish
additional liabilities if not carefully considered

10. 8. Multi-Employer Worksite Liability
• Multi-Employer Worksites
– Step One. The first step is to determine whether the
employer is a creating, exposing, correcting, or
controlling employer.
– Step Two. If the employer falls into one of these
categories, Step Two is to determine if the employer’s
actions were sufficient to meet its obligations.

11. 9. Self-Audit Protections & Responses
• OSHA will refrain from routinely requesting
reports of voluntary self-audits at the initiation of
an enforcement inspection
• OSHA will refrain from issuing a citation for a
violative condition that an employer has
discovered through a voluntary self-audit if
employer has corrected condition before the
inspection and has taken steps to prevent
recurrence
• Privileges may protect audits

12. 10. Whistleblower Complaints
http://www.whistleblowers.gov/whistleblower/wb_data_FY05‐13.pdf

13. Questions?