Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook

Marshall Lee Miller Margaret S. Lopez Francina M. Segbefia Arthur G. Sapper William K. Doran Katie A. Duggin Melissa A. Bailey John B. O'Loughlin, Jr. Kenneth B. Siepman John B. Flood Michael T. Heenan Eric J. Conn Lauren Handel Frank D. Davis Rachel Schaffer

Contents

Occupational Safety and Health Act ........................................1

1.0 Overview .............................................................................................1
1.1 Comparison of OSHA and EPA ..............................................2
1.2 OSHA, the Organization ...........................................................2

2.0 Legislative Framework .......................................................................3
2.1 Purpose of the Act .....................................................................3
2.2 Coverage of the Act ...................................................................4
2.3 Exemptions from the Act ..........................................................5
2.4 Telecommuting and Home Workplaces ..................................6

3.0 Scope of OSHA Standards ...............................................................6
3.1 Areas Covered by the OSHA Standards .................................7
3.2 Overview of Standards ..............................................................8
3.3 Overview of Health Standards .................................................8
3.4 Overview of Safety Standards ..................................................9

4.0 Standard Setting ................................................................................10
4.1 Consensus Standards: Section 6(a) .........................................10
4.2 Standards Completion and Deletion Processes ...................12
4.3 Permanent Standards: Section 6(b) ........................................12
4.4 Emergency Temporary Standards ..........................................14
4.5 General Duty Clause, 5(a)(1) ...................................................15
4.6 Feasibility and the Balancing Debate ....................................15

5.0 Variances ............................................................................................18
5.1 Temporary Variances. ...............................................................18
5.2 Permanent Variances ................................................................19

6.0 Compliance and Inspections ..........................................................19
6.1 Field Structure ...........................................................................19
6.2 Role of Inspections ..................................................................19
6.3 Training and Competence of Inspectors ..............................20
6.4 Citations, Fines, and Penalties .................................................20
6.5 OSHA Citation and Penalty Patterns ....................................21
6.6 Communicating and Enforcing Company Rules .................22
6.7 Warrantless Inspections: The Barlow Case ...........................23

7.0 Recordkeeping ..................................................................................23
7.1 Accident Reports ......................................................................24
7.2 Monitoring and Medical Records ...........................................24
7.3 Hazard Communication ..........................................................25
7.4 Access to Records ....................................................................25
7.5 Programmatic Standards ..........................................................26

8.0 Refusal to Work and Whistle-blowing ..........................................26
8.1 Refusal to Work .........................................................................26
8.2 Protection of Whistle-blowing ...............................................27

9.0 Federal and State Employees ..........................................................28
9.1 Federal Agencies .......................................................................28
9.2 State Employees ........................................................................29

10.0 State OSHA Programs ..................................................................29
10.1 Concept ....................................................................................29
10.2 Critiques ...................................................................................30

11.0 Consultation ...................................................................................31
11.1 Education .................................................................................31
11.2 Alliances ...................................................................................32

12.0 Overlapping Jurisdiction ...............................................................32

13.0 Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ............33
13.1 OSHRC Appeal Process ........................................................34
13.2 Limitations of the Commission ...........................................34

14.0 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ...........35
14.1 In Theory .................................................................................35
14.2 In Practice ................................................................................35

15.0 Hazard Communication Regulations ..........................................36
15.1 Reason for the Regulation .....................................................36
15.2 Scope and Components ........................................................37
15.3 Hazard Evaluation ..................................................................38
15.4 Trade Secrets ...........................................................................39
15.5 Federal Preemption Controversy .........................................40

16.0 Ergonomics Issues .........................................................................42
16.1 Background .............................................................................42
16.2 Scope of the Problem ...........................................................42
16.3 Scope of the Standard ...........................................................43

17.0 Legislation .......................................................................................44

Notes ........................................................................................................45

The Rulemaking Process ...........................................................53

1.0 Overview ...........................................................................................53

2.0 The Rulemaking Process .................................................................54
2.1 Petitions for Rulemaking .........................................................54
2.2 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ......55
2.3 Advisory Committees ..............................................................55
2.4 Regulatory Agenda ....................................................................56
2.5 Request for Information and Advanced Notice of Rulemaking .................57
2.6 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ............................................57
2.7 Hearings .....................................................................................58
2.8 The Final Rule ...........................................................................58

3.0 Negotiated Rulemaking ...................................................................59

4.0 Other Applicable Statutes Concerning Rulemaking ...................59

5.0 Delays in Rulemaking ......................................................................60

6.0 Emergency Temporary Standards .................................................61

7.0 Variances ............................................................................................62
7.1 Temporary Variance .................................................................62
7.2 Permanent Variance .................................................................63
7.3 Interim Order ............................................................................64

8.0 State Law Standards/Jurisdiction ..................................................64

9.0 Judicial Review .................................................................................65

Notes ........................................................................................................65

The Duty to Comply with Standards .........................................69

1.0 Overview ...........................................................................................69

2.0 Applicability of OSHA Standards .................................................69
2.1 The General Principle of Preemption ..................................69
2.2 Special Applicability Problems ...............................................70

3.0 General Principles of the Duty to Comply ..................................71
3.1 The Exposure Rule ..................................................................71
3.2 To Whose Employee Does the Duty Run? ..........................72
3.2.1 The Multi-Employer Worksite Liability Rules ...................72

4.0 Actual or Constructive Knowledge ...............................................74

5.0 Additional Elements That OSHA Must Sometimes Prove .......75

6.0 The Employer’s Substantive Affirmative Defenses ....................76
6.1 Infeasibility .................................................................................76
6.2 The Greater Hazard Defense .................................................77
6.3 Unpreventable Employee Misconduct ..................................78
6.4 Invalidity of the Standard .......................................................79
6.5 De Minimis ................................................................................80

Notes ........................................................................................................80

The General Duty Clause ..........................................................89

1.0 Overview ...........................................................................................89

2.0 Who Is Protected by the General Duty Clause? .........................91

3.0 The Existence of a Hazard ............................................................93

4.0 Recognized Hazard ..........................................................................94
4.1 Industry Recognition ................................................................94
4.2 Employer Recognition .............................................................95
4.3 Obvious Hazard Recognition .................................................96

5.0 Causing or Likely to Cause Death or Serious Physical Harm ...97

6.0 Feasible Measures to Correct the Hazard ....................................98

7.0 Practical Enforcement of the General Duty Clause ................100

8.0 Conclusion ......................................................................................101

Notes ......................................................................................................102

Recordkeeping ........................................................................104

1.0 Overview .........................................................................................104

2.0 Statutory Authority ........................................................................105
3.0 Injury and Illness Recordkeeping ................................................106
3.1 History of the Recordkeeping Requirements ....................106
3.2 OSHA’s Authority for Requiring Employers to Keep Records ............106
3.3 Identifying Injuries and Illnesses that Must be Recorded .107
3.4 Special Cases ............................................................................123
3.5 Recordkeeping Forms and Retention Periods ...................127
3.6 Employee Involvement and Access to Records .................128
3.7 Privacy Cases ...........................................................................129
3.8 Reporting Injuries and Fatalities ..........................................129
3.9 Exemptions from Recordkeeping Requirements ..............131

4.0 OSHA Standards Requiring Written Documents .....................131
4.1 Safety Standard Recordkeeping Requirements ...................132
4.2 The Health Standards ............................................................134
4.3 Hazard Communication and Bloodborne Pathogens .......136
4.4 The Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records Standard ..............138

5.0 Using Records to Prove Compliance ..........................................140

Employees’ and Employers’ Rights ........................................152

1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................152

2.0 What Are the Employer’s Rights in This Scenario? ..................158

Refusal to Work and Whistleblower Protection .....................165

1.0 Overview .........................................................................................165

Hazard Communication: Implementation of the Globally
Harmonized System in the 21st Century ................................183

1.0 Overview .........................................................................................183

2.0 The Hazard Communication Standard and Push Toward Global Harmonization ........185
2.1 ..The Hazard Communication Standard ..............................185

3.2 Key Requirements ..................................................................189
3.3 Implementation of RCHS .....................................................195

4.0 Conclusion ......................................................................................197

Voluntary Safety and Health Self-Audits ...............................204

1.0 Overview .........................................................................................204
2.0 The Significance of Voluntary Safety and Health Auditing ....205
2.1 Overview of Audits ................................................................205
2.2 Auditing Tips ...........................................................................207

3.0 OSHA’s Voluntary Self-Audit Policy ...........................................209
3.1 Purpose ....................................................................................209
3.2 Scope ........................................................................................209
3.3 Provisions .................................................................................210
3.4 Limitations ...............................................................................211
3.5 Critique .....................................................................................212

4.0 Privileges and Protections from Disclosure of Audit Information ................213
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................213
4.2 The Self-Audit Privilege ........................................................213
4.3 The Attorney/Client Privilege ..............................................216
4.4 Attorney Work Product Doctrine ........................................217

5.0 Conclusion ......................................................................................218

Inspections and Investigations ...............................................220

Understanding and Contesting OSHA Citations ...................237

Criminal Enforcement of Violations .......................................257

1.0 Overview .........................................................................................257

//Note that the footnotes are not automatically renumbering and
need to be paired with the text// ..............................................258

2.0 Willful Violations Causing Death to Employee .................258

3.0 Federal Prosecution .......................................................................259

4..0 False Statements and Advance Notice ...............................261

6.0 State Enforcement .........................................................................263

7.0 Prosecution under Environmental Statutes ...............................264

8.0 Legislative Proposals and Prospects ............................................265

Judicial Review of Enforcement Actions ...............................267

Imminent Danger Inspections ................................................278

1.0 Overview .........................................................................................278

2.0 Imminent Danger Defined ...........................................................279

3.0 Nuts and Bolts of an Inspection .................................................279

4.0 The On-Site Visit ...........................................................................280

5.0 Employee Representatives ............................................................283

6.0 Opening Conference .....................................................................284

7.0 The Walk Around ..........................................................................284

8.0 Notices of Imminent Danger and Temporary Restraining

Orders .............................................................................................285

9.0 Closing Conference .......................................................................286

10.0 Citations and Penalties ................................................................286

11.0 Abatement .....................................................................................287

12.0 MSHA Imminent Danger Inspections .....................................289

13.0 Individual Employee Rights and Labor Unions ......................290

14.0 Summary .......................................................................................291