As we prepare to begin Year 2 of the Biden Administration, it’s time to look back and take stock of what we learned from and about OSHA during this very eventful year. More importantly, it is time to look ahead and assess what to expect from OSHA now that OSHA’s senior leadership team is complete and ready to place its stamp on the agency. In this webinar, the Partners in Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA Practice Group will review OSHA enforcement, rulemaking, and personnel developments from 2021. We will also discuss the top OSHA issues employers should monitor and prepare for in the New Year.

Participants in this webinar will learn about:

2021 OSHA enforcement data and important case decisions
OSHA leadership and organizational developments
The future of OSHA enforcement during the Biden Administration
Rulemaking initiatives and predictions
Significant OSHA policy issues to watch out for in the New Year

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COVID-19 Emergency Standards / Permanent Standards / Enforcement

Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Eric J. Conn, Kate McMahon, Aaron Gelb and Amanda Strainis-Walker

As America grapples with the latest surge of cases caused by the Omicron variant, President Biden has continued to make “Vaccinating the Unvaccinated” a focal point of his administration. At the heart of this effort is the “Vaccinate or Test” ETS which is now scheduled to go into effect on January 10, 2022, with testing due to begin on February 9, 2022. While quite a few employers continued preparations for the ETS after it was stayed by the Fifth Circuit, most employers are now having to restart compliance efforts during the holidays in order to meet these new deadlines.

During this webinar, attorneys from CMC’s COVID-19 Task Force will provide a detailed analysis of the rule and address these important questions raised by the latest development on the COVID-19 front:

What does OSHA’s new COVID-19 “Vaccinate or Test” emergency rule require?
How should employers develop a compliant testing strategy?
What are the various state plan states doing?
Does the rule account in any way for natural immunity for employees who have been infected and recovered from COVID-19? What about booster shots?
What is on the horizon as far as a permanent infectious disease rule?
Where does the Healthcare COVID-19 ETS stand?

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Annual Cal/OSHA Enforcement and Regulatory Update

Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Andrew Sommer, Fred Walter, and Megan Shaked

This has been a challenging year for California employers navigating the COVID-19 pandemic with a set of ever-changing regulatory requirements, as well as a flurry of other new workplace safety laws the legislature passed towards the end of 2021. This update will cover the latest legislative and rulemaking developments concerning COVID-19, including the revised COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard and the “permanent” rule being considered. We will also cover other laws creating new workplace safety requirements and expanding the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (DOSH) enforcement authority.

During this webinar, participants will learn about:

The revised California (or California and federal) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard and the status of COVID-19 rulemaking, including the proposed “permanent” COVID-19 rule under consideration
DOSH guidance on COVID-19 workplace safety rules
Assembly Bill 701 – the “warehouse quota” law – providing a private right of action where an employer fails to disclose work quotas, or the quotas prevent compliance with meal and rest periods or other occupational health and safety laws
Senate Bill 606, which broadly expands Cal/OSHA’s enforcement authority, and the penalty amounts employers may be assessed
Assembly Bill 685, which provides Cal/OSHA with the power to shut down workplaces deemed an imminent hazard for Covid-19, increases employers’ reporting responsibilities and exempts Cal/OSHA from notifying the employer of its intent to issue a Serious-classified citation (the 1BGY letter) prior to issuance
Other regulatory developments from the Standards Board, such as the status of the propose indoor heat illness rule
Insight into DOSH enforcement trends and strategies for coping with the rapidly changing regulatory landscape

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Religious and Disability Accommodations (L&E Crossover)

Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 4 PM EST/1 PM PST

Presented by Andrew Sommer, Jordan Schwartz, and Beeta Lashkari

Employee requests for medical and/or religious accommodations in the workplace are not new. Indeed, we have been counseling employers for years regarding their obligations under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified applicants and employees with a disability, unless the employer can demonstrate that doing so creates an undue hardship to the employer or poses a direct threat to the safety of the employee or others in the workplace. Likewise, we have also continually advised employers of their obligation to accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII), unless the accommodation creates an undue hardship.

However, never have these accommodation requests been such a hot-button topic, nor have these accommodations requests been used so frequently (specifically, religious accommodation requests). The imposition of COVID-19 vaccine mandates has changed that, particularly regarding religious accommodation requests, which has become the ultimate “gray area,” as both employers and employees alike have learned that sincerely held religious belief can include an employee’s religious-based objection to vaccinations. As a result, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued guidance regarding the obligations of employers under Title VII when an employee presents with a religious objection to a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, which builds upon prior EEOC guidance regarding COVID-19 vaccinations in the employment context. Thus, there are multiple issues that employers need to keep in mind and juggle when addressing these vaccination accommodation requests.

Participants in this webinar will learn how to best deal with such requests by their employees, including:

Tips for determining whether an employee has a sincerely held religious belief under Title VII or a disability under the ADA
How to legitimately assess whether the proposed accommodation poses a direct threat to your organization
Factors to understand as to whether the accommodation would be considered an “undue hardship”
Reminders on how to initiate and participate in the interactive process
Analysis of most recent EEOC guidance on this topic

Click here to register for this webinar.

OSHA’s Training Issues: Proof of Training, Language, and More

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Aaron Gelb and Ashley D. Mitchell

To satisfy OSHA, workplace safety and health training must be more than a “check-the-box” exercise where a trainer stands in front of an audience, delivers a lecture, hands out a test and grades the answers. If your employees are not able to adequately explain or communicate the concepts covered in training when they are interviewed by an OSHA compliance officer, the agency will almost certainly conclude that the training was not effective and issue one or more citations. In other words, you do not comply with the applicable standards simply by delivering the training and/or sending a series of sign-in sheets to OSHA—you comply by providing effective training in a manner that is understood by your employees such that it can be applied and readily explained by them. If employees are not trained in a language and/or vocabulary they understand, they will almost certainly be unable to apply or explain what was presented to them.

During this webinar, participants will learn about:

Notable training requirements found in key OSHA standards
What compliant training generally looks like
Types of citations an employer may receive for failing to properly train employees
How lack of training can impact potential defenses to an OSHA citation
Other ways inadequate training impacts the workplace
Best practices to help employees grasp and retain information presented during training sessions

Click here to register for this webinar.

Evacuating the Workplace – Exit Routes and Exit Doors

Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Lindsay DiSalvo, Micah Smith, and Dan Deacon

Evacuating the workplace during an emergency is critical. However, consistently maintaining compliant exit access, routes, and doors in a busy workplace is often challenging, especially in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and retail settings. OSHA routinely cites egress violations as Serious because of the potential for injury or death. It is an easy violation for inspectors to identify during on-site inspections, which often leads to the issuance of costly Repeat or Willful citations.

Temporary or permanent storage of materials can create several compliance issues related to OSHA’s egress requirements, but there are several ways to maintain compliant exit routes and doors and ensure that they are always accessible. Identifying and maintaining egress routes and exits is an important element of a workplace’s emergency action plan. Employers should carefully develop emergency action plans and ensure employees understand not only how to evacuate the workplace during an emergency but how to maintain proper egress routes and exits throughout their work shifts, as it provides employees with a safer workplace and may even save lives.

Participants in this webinar will learn about:

OSHA enforcement history related to egress violations
The requirements for egress, exits, and emergency lighting, including acceptable means of egress for occupants to safely exit a building, illumination requirements, and rules for markings and signage to guide occupants to the exits
How to identify and address potential egress violations
How to create an effective emergency action plan
Tips to audit your workplace for compliance with 1910.36, 1910.37, and 1910.38

Click here to register for this webinar.

OSHA and Climate Change (Heat Illness and Super Storms)

Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Kathryn McMahon and Ashley D. Mitchell

OSHA has embarked on one of the broadest, most significant rulemakings it has undertaken in over a decade. The agency is developing a comprehensive occupational standard to regulate heat illness associated with exposure to heat on the job – in indoor as well as outdoor settings. A heat standard will impact scores of employers in every region of the country and may include requirements to provide conditioned air or increased building ventilation, shade tents, regular work-rest cycles built into employees’ work schedules and biological monitoring to ensure employees are not dehydrated or showing signs of heat stress.

The standard has become a priority of the Biden Administration as part of their interagency effort to address climate change and the impact it is having on US worker populations. A number of recent studies show that workers are often the first to be exposed to the effects of climate change and may be affected for longer durations and at greater intensities. NIOSH cites a 2014 study indicating that workers are “the canaries in the coal mine of climate change impacts.”

Join us for our webinar discussing OSHA’s heat illness rulemaking – its status, scope and what it may require – as well as the other significant steps OSHA is taking to address heat illness, including the emergent National Emphasis Program (NEP) on heat illness, and to delve into the impacts of climate change on US workers.

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A Deep Dive Into Periodic Lockout/Tagout Inspections

Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Aaron Gelb and Beeta Lashkari

Year in and year out, OSHA’s Lockout/Tagout (Energy Control) standard is one of the most frequently cited standards. With the National Emphasis Program on Amputations continuing in 2022, employers are subject to inspections focusing on their LOTO programs and practices even if there are no serious injuries or complaints made about them. With increased scrutiny comes a greater risk of citations—particularly repeat violations—which can lead to employers being placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Despite being such an important standard, OSHA’s LOTO rule continues to be one of the least understood. This webinar will take a deep dive into arguably one of the most confusing (not to mention, one of the most frequently cited) aspects of the LOTO rule – periodic inspections.

Participants in this webinar will learn about:

OSHA’s enforcement of LOTO violations, including those around periodic inspections
What the LOTO standard requires with respect to periodic inspections and how to conduct them in a manner that complies with the standard
Common mistakes employers make regarding periodic LOTO inspections
Compliance tips and best practices to help protect against Lockout/Tagout periodic inspection violations

Click here to register for this webinar.

Important Nuances of OSHA’s Recordkeeping, Reporting, and E-Recordkeeping Rules

Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Lindsay DiSalvo and Ashley D. Mitchell

Although OSHA’s Recordkeeping, Reporting, and E-Recordkeeping rules may seem clear on their face, there are many nuances in all three standards that are essential for employers to understand in navigating their injury and illness recording, reporting, and electronic submission obligations. It is important to understand those nuances for several reasons.

As to recordkeeping, 300 Logs and 300A Summaries are always requested during an inspection and can be an additional tool for enforcement purposes. Injury and illness data can also be a factor in certain employers’ continued operations and sustainability, required to be shared in contract bidding and/or requested by potential customers. Furthermore, reporting a serious injury or illness has a direct correlation to OSHA’s initiation of enforcement activities, often resulting in either a Rapid Response Investigation or an on-site inspection depending on the type or report. Finally, e-recordkeeping data is collected by OSHA and used in developing and executing its Site-Specific Targeting Program (SST annually) based on an employer’s 300A Summary.

Participants in this webinar will learn about:

How to assess whether an injury or illness is work-related
What is considered days away from work, work restriction, and medical treatment beyond first aid
What constitutes reportable in-patient hospitalizations and amputations
What must be submitted to OSHA under the E-Recordkeeping Rule and any changes to those requirements under the current Administration
How to properly evaluate cases of COVID-19 for recordability and reportability

Click here to register for this webinar.

The State of the Law re: Drug Testing (L&E Crossover)

Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Aaron Gelb, Daniel Deacon, and Ashley Mitchell

Recreational and medicinal marijuana are here to stay. Each year, it seems that several new jurisdictions legalize marijuana use in some form and momentum continues to build for change on the federal level. As such, it appears to be only a matter of time before marijuana is legalized in some form throughout the entire country. However, with these changes comes the potential for more employees to be under the influence of both legal and illegal drugs at the workplace. So, what can employers do to maintain a safe workplace? What restrictions are there for testing employees for drug use? Can employer really impose a drug-free workplace policy considering these seemingly pro-marijuana laws?

This webinar will explore the changing legal landscape concerning marijuana, analyze potential issues related to zero-tolerance policies and review tips for developing effective drug testing policies that will comply with fair employment laws as well as OSHA regulations. Specifically, you will learn about:

The changing legal landscape regarding medical and recreational marijuana in states around the country
How state marijuana laws affect your federal compliance obligations under the DOT and other agencies
Which state laws provide explicitly for employee non-discrimination protections
Whether medical marijuana use may qualify as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act or state disability discrimination laws
How to address off-duty use of marijuana in states where it is legal
Whether OSHA will be changing its approach to drug testing under the Biden Administration

Click here to register for this webinar.

Process Safety Update: The Latest with OSHA PSM & EPA RMP

Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Micah Smith and Beeta Lashkari

By November 2022, the Biden Administration will have had more than a year and a half to make its mark in the process safety arena, so we will be reporting on the rulemaking and enforcement efforts that OSHA, EPA, and CSB have undertaken. We will evaluate whether the agencies have managed to fully reverse the regulatory rollbacks that the previous administration pursued and whether there are new, clear priorities being revealed.

Regardless the direction the Administration takes, we know that the regulated industries will be closely watching this space, so we will discuss how companies can best respond to and prepare for enforcement and investigative initiatives that the process safety agencies have launched. We’ll be certain to cover the status of OSHA and EPA rulemaking and to discuss how CSB’s data collection is proceeding under its accidental release reporting rule.

Click here to register for this webinar.

New Emergency Response Rule

Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 1 PM ET

Presented by Eric J. Conn, Amanda Strainis-Walker, and Megan Shaked

After a period of inaction, OSHA is renewing its interest in the Emergency Response Standard by picking up where the Obama Administration left off with creating a new, broader standard to protect employees who respond to emergencies as part of their regularly assigned duties. The Biden Administration has designated this rulemaking as a priority and is expected to complete the Small Business Advocacy Review (“SBAR”) Panel under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (“SBREFA”) during a global pandemic – a year the Agency issued a record-breaking number of Emergency Temporary Standards.

The potential (yet likely) standard could apply to employers that designated employees to provide emergency response services that are currently covered by OSHA’s Fire Brigades Standard or currently not covered by another OSHA standard. Specifically, this could include Emergency Service Organizations (“ESOs”) (e.g., firefighting, fire rescue, emergency medical service, etc.), general industry employers that have or will establish a Workplace Emergency Response Team (e.g., an industrial, emergency, or facility fire brigade), and general industry, construction, and maritime industry employers that we expect, based on past experience, to enter into a mutual aid agreement or contract to provide “skilled support” personnel at an emergency incident (e.g., crane/bulldozer operators, towing companies, environmental response firms, electrical power responders, drone operators, etc.).

Participants in this webinar will learn about the latest rulemaking developments and details regarding when and what new compliance obligations will likely be effective.

Click here to register for this webinar.