As we enter the home stretch of the Obama Administration’s control of OSHA, we have seen OSHA increase enforcement to levels never seen before, from increased inspections and citations to dramatically higher penalties, and from more criminal referrals to a heavy dose of public shaming. Accordingly, it is more important now than ever before to be prepared.
Conn Maciel Carey’s complimentary 2016 OSHA Webinar Series, put on by attorneys in the firm’s national OSHA Practice Group, is designed to give you the tools to avoid becoming an OSHA-enforcement poster child.
To register for any of the individual webinars in the series, click on the links below the program descriptions. To register for the entire 2016 series, please send an email to info@connmaciel.com, and we will assist. If you missed some of the programs in the 2015 OSHA Webinar Series, here’s a link to an archive of recordings of those webinars.
Top 5 OSHA Issues in 2016Thursday, January 21st |
Key Cal/OSHA IssuesThursday, July 21st |
OSHA’s Fatality & Injury
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Multi- and Joint-Employers,
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OSHA PSM and EPA RMP UpdateWednesday, March 16th |
Contest and Settle OSHA CitationsWednesday, September 7th |
Whistleblower InvestigationsTuesday, April 19th |
OSHA Impact of the ElectionTuesday, October 25th |
GHS HazCom Standard Roll-outWednesday, May 11th |
OSHA Issues in AcquisitionsTuesday, November 8th |
Proposed Injury & Illness
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Bathroom Issues under OSHA, Employment law and the ADATuesday, December 13th |
See below for descriptions of the
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Top 5 OSHA Issues to Track in 2016
Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn, Kathryn M. McMahon, Amanda R. Strainis-Walker, Andrew J. Sommer, Lindsay A. Smith and Dan C. Deacon
The ball has dropped, the confetti has been swept out of Times Square, and 2015 is in the books. It’s time to look back at the year and take stock of what we learned from and about OSHA over the past year. More importantly, the question on everyone’s mind (well, maybe just ours), is what can we expect from OSHA in this final year of the Obama Administration? In this webinar event, attorneys from the national OSHA Practice Group at Conn Maciel Carey will review enforcement and rulemaking issues from 2015, and will identify the Top 5 OSHA Issues employers should monitor and prepare for in the New Year.
Participants will learn the following:
- 2015 OSHA enforcement data and trends and rulemaking achievements
- Important OSHA enforcement issues for 2016
- Major OSHA rulemaking and quasi-rulemaking developments to expect before the Obama term runs
- Other significant OSHA policy issues to watch out for in the New Year
Click here to register for this webinar.
OSHA’s New Fatality and Injury Reporting Rule: What We Know Now
Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn and Lindsay A. Smith
To kick off 2015, OSHA rolled-out a major change to its Fatality & Injury Reporting Rule to require employers to contact OSHA thousands of times more often to report incidents, which means many more inspections. A year into the new reporting regime now, this webinar takes a hard look at what is being reported to OSHA and what OSHA is doing with all these new reports.
Participants will learn the following:
- Requirements of OSHA’s new Fatality and Injury Reporting Rule
- Lessons about reports that some employers are making that are not required
- Data and trends of reports made to OSHA during the first year of the new Reporting Rule
- Actions OSHA is taking in response to the various types of reports it is receiving (and not receiving)
Click here to register for this webinar.
OSHA’s PSM Standard & EPA’s RMP Rule: Rulemaking, “Interpretations” and Enforcement
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker
Following the tragic West Fertilizer explosion in 2013, President Obama issued an Executive Order directing OSHA, EPA and other agencies to “modernize” the manner in which the government regulates chemical manufacturing processes. OSHA and EPA are taking sweeping actions in response to this Executive Order, from enforcement initiatives to rulemaking efforts to overhaul the PSM and RMP regulations, as well as some controversial rulemaking by interpretation letter. This webinar will dive deep into the changes we have already seen, and those making their way through the rulemaking process.
Participants will learn about the following:
- Details of Pres. Obama’s Executive Order to Improve Chemical Facility Safety and Security
- OSHA’s and EPA’s Rulemaking Efforts to “modernize” the PSM and RMP regulations
- OSHA’s controversial PSM rulemaking by interpretation letters
- EPA’s new interpretation of the three-year compliance audit requirement
Click here to register for this webinar.
Whistleblower Investigations – OSHA’s 11(c) and other Statutes
Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Kara M. Maciel and Eric J. Conn
A host of federal and state laws include provisions prohibiting employers from retaliating against whistleblowers who engage in activities protected by the statute. The Occupational Safety and Health Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and several other laws that regulate the relationship between employers and employees, contain such whistleblower protections. Pursuant to these protections, the laws also provide a mechanism through which employees can report incidents of retaliation to the government to investigate and potentially bring an enforcement action against the employer. With the number of whistleblower claims continuing to rise in 2015, it is imperative for employers to understand what types of actions could be the impetus for a whistleblower investigation and the potential consequences. This webinar will help employers achieve that understanding.
Participants will learn the following:
- Specific requirements of the major employment-related laws, including the OSH Act and Title VII, that contain whistleblower protections;
- Proactive measures employers can take to avoid whistleblower claims;
- Strategies employers can use to effectively respond to whistleblower investigations and defend against enforcement actions.
Click here to register for this webinar.
New GHS Hazard Communication Standard: Roll-out Issues
Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Kathryn M. McMahon, Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon
Perhaps the most significant safety related regulatory reform during the Obama Administration has been the amended Hazard Communication Standard, bringing OSHA’s chemical Right-to-Know regulation more in line with the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (“GHS”). The new GHS HazCom standard fundamentally changes how employers must classify chemicals in the workplace, and requires all new chemical labels and Safety Data Sheets (formerly MSDSs).
The new GHS HazCom Standard had a seemingly long roll-out period, but time has flown by, and many of the key deadlines under the new rule have already best, and the rest are upon us. This webinar will explain the new Hazard Communication standard, identify some of the key issues with the new HazCom rule that have surfaced during the roll-out, and explain what employers need to do to come into compliance.
Participants will learn about the following:
- Background about OSHA’s new GHS Hazard Communication Standard
- Important elements of the new rule that employers need to know
- Key implementation deadlines and enforcement deferrals
- Developing issues uncovered during the roll-out of the new rule
- Best practices for coming into compliance with the new GHS HazCom Standard
Click here to register for this webinar.
Get the Record Straight: OSHA’s Proposed Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rules
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker
As the clock winds down on the Obama Administration, OSHA has been rushing out a series of proposed amendments to its Injury & Illness Recordkeeping regulations (29 C.F.R. Part 1904). Among them is a proposal to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” which would require many employers to electronically submit their injury and illness logs (and in many instances, their detailed incident reports also) to OSHA on a regular and frequent basis, as often as quarterly for large employers, and for no apparent safety reason, OSHA intends to publish employers’ injury data and incident reports online. Another proposed rule, “Continuing Duty to Maintain Up-to-Date and Accurate Injury & Illness Records,” would impose a continuing duty on employers to update and maintain accurate injury and illness logs for the entire five year period for which the current regulation requires employers to keep copies of their OSHA 300 logs and related forms. Essentially, this proposal extends OSHA’s statute of limitations period during which OSHA is allowed to bring an enforcement action alleging a violation of the recordkeeping standard from six months from the day of the recordable injury to five years.
During this webinar, participants will learn the following:
- Details of OSHA’s proposed rule to require submission of injury and illness recordkeeping data
- Requirements of OSHA’s proposed rule to extend its statute of limitations for recordkeeping violations
- Potential impact of these two proposed recordkeeping rules
- Status of rulemakings and likelihood of implementation
Click here to register for this webinar.
Key Cal/OSHA Issues that California Employers Must Understand
Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 4 PM ET
Presented by Andrew J. Sommer and Eric J. Conn
The state of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), better known as Cal/OSHA, is perhaps the most aggressive and enforcement heavy approved state OSH program. Cal/OSHA faces many fewer bureaucratic obstacles in its rulemaking (really legislative) process than federal OSHA, so it is able to advance new rules and add new regulatory requirements much quicker. Accordingly, California employers face a host of requirements that employers around the country do not. Likewise, the Cal/OSHA inspection and appeal “process” creates several unique landmines for California employers.
During this webinar, participants will learn about:
- Cal/OSHA’s 1BY (Notice of Serious Violation) Process
- California Unique Standards
- Cal/OSHA’s Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP) rule
Click here to register for this webinar.
Is That My Employee? Multi-Employer, Joint-Employer, Independent Contractors and Temp Workers
Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Jordan B. Schwartz, Eric J. Conn and Lindsay A. Smith
Employers’ perceptions about their legal responsibilities for certain workers is not always reality. Although an employer may classify workers as temporary workers or independent contractors, that does not mean the Department of Labor takes the same view. Recently, DOL has been vocal about its belief that most workers should be treated as employees, insinuating that in a majority of cases, it would hold employers accountable for the specific obligations of an employer-employee relationship. Additionally, employers may have certain obligations and potential liability depending on their role at multi-employer worksites or in joint employer situations.
Overall, DOL has been cracking down on employee misclassification and division of responsibility among multiple employers; thus, it is essential for employers to carefully evaluate the employment relationship and their own individual function at in the multi-employer context.
During this webinar, participants in this webinar will learn:
- Criteria used to evaluate the employer-employee relationship
- Employers roles on a multi-employer worksite and the specific obligations associated with each role
- Guidance on how to clearly establish an independent contractor relationship
- How to lawfully and effectively manage temporary workers at your workplace
Click here to register for this webinar.
Post-OSHA Citation: Contest Process, Settlement Goals and Strategy
Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn and Kathryn M. McMahon
You just received a set of OSHA citations in the mail. What now? Should we accept the citations and pay the penalty? Should we participate in an Informal Settlement Conference with the OSHA Area Office? Should we contest the citations? What does a good settlement look like and how can we achieve those goals? This webinar will explain the post-citation process, and provide tips and strategies for resolving OSHA citations in a manner that mitigates the potential for Repeat violations, reduces the proposed penalty, prevents the citations from impacting a personal injury or wrongful death civil suit, and helps you avoid or extricate you from the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
During this webinar, participants will learn:
- Options and avenues for resolving OSHA citations
- Tips for how to evaluate the potential future impact of OSHA citations
- Settlement goals and strategies
Click here to register for this webinar.
OSHA Impact of the Upcoming Presidential Election
Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn, Kathryn M. McMahon and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker
In just a couple of weeks, we will have the opportunity to enter the voting booth, and cast a ballot to elect the next President of the United States. The platforms and proposed polices of the candidates are more divergent than I can ever remember. The outcome of this election will significantly impact this country’s future with respect to healthcare, military actions, economic policy, and of course, workplace safety and health regulation and enforcement. This webinar will discuss the public positions taken by both candidates about safety and health enforcement and rulemaking, and the likely impacts to OSHA depending on which candidate takes the White House.
Click here to register for this webinar.
OSHA Issues During Acquisitions and Divestitures
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Eric J. Conn and Lindsay A. Smith
OSHA compliance issues have been long ignored in the due diligence process for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. With OSHA’s new focus on follow-up inspections and Repeat citations, and expanding the concept of successor OSHA liability, it is a topic that should no longer be left out of the due diligence process. This webinar will explain the current landscape of successor liability under the OSH Act, explain what safety and health obligations a new employer may assume as a result of past conduct by a prior employer, and provide tips and strategies for managing OSHA compliance related due diligence.
Participants will learn about:
- Successor and Repeat Liability Based on Prior Employers’ Violations
- A New Employer’s Potential Duty to Address OSHA Penalties and Abatement of a Predecessor
- Requirements to Transfer and Retain a Predecessor’s Safety Records
- Safety-related Due Diligence & Other Strategies
Click here to register for this webinar.
Bathroom Break: Employee Access to Bathrooms, ADA Accessibility, and Transgender Bathrooms
Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 1 PM ET
Presented by Kara M. Maciel and Eric J. Conn
Although not typically thought of as a hotbed of OSHA/Employment law activity, access to bathrooms by both employees, as well as members of the public, has become a high profile issue of late. OSHA has always required employers to provide their employees with prompt access to sanitary toilet facilities, so they will not suffer adverse health effects if toilets are not available when needed. Recently, OSHA, along with other federal, state and local authorities, began to prohibit discriminatory practices with regard to restroom access based on the principle that individuals have the right to use facilities consistent with their gender identity. There are also a host of requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act that must be met for a bathroom to be considered accessible and usable by an individual with a disability. This webinar will review the requirements in this area, and will provide specific strategies to address this new and complex area of the law.
Participants will learn about the following:
- Explanation of OSHA’s Sanitation Standard as it relates to your business
- Transgender workplace obligations
- Federal Agency Interpretations of Title VII to include discrimination based on gender identity or transgender status
- State laws regarding discriminatory practices in regard to restroom access
- Best practices for overcoming typical bathroom ADA accessibility issues
Click here to register for this webinar.