Author Archives: Greg Enright

About Greg Enright

Greg Enright is Content Marketing Manager at Intelex Technologies. A veteran journalist, writer and editor, Greg has written extensively on technology, finance and EHSQ issues. At Intelex, he focuses primarily on Health and Safety.

Don’t Use COVID-19 as Excuse for OSHA Non-Compliance: Legal Experts

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When it comes to recordkeeping, the hardest questions employers are grappling with are whether an incident is recordable or not, and whether it is work-related.

Employers who try to use the pandemic as an excuse for non-compliance with OSHA regulations can expect no mercy from the agency and will still face hefty fines and penalties, according to legal experts.

During a recent webinar hosted by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), Todd Logsdon, partner at Fisher & Phillips LLP, and Barry Spurlock, practicing attorney and associate professor at Eastern Kentucky University, offered these and other insights into common questions they have received around how OSHA regulations may or may not have changed in the new COVID landscape. Here is a summary of their observations on a number of top-of-mind topics.

Training During COVID

Many organizations are wondering how to proceed with required training while operating under the onerous restrictions … Read more...

OSHA to Ramp Up COVID-19 Enforcement Under Biden: Law Firm

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OSHA COVID-19 Rules

Under the new Joe Biden administration, OSHA will take a more aggressive approach to regulation enforcement and will quickly step up measures to combat the effects of COVID-19 in the workplace, according to a health and safety-focused law firm.

Lawyers at Conn Maciel Carey made these and other OSHA-related predictions in a webinar that took stock of the agency’s recent past under the outgoing Donald Trump Republicans and looked ahead to what 2021 will look like under Biden’s Democrats.

During the pandemic, OSHA’s enforcement efforts have tended to concentrate on a select few types of citations, asserted partner Kate McMahon. These have largely been healthcare-oriented, with less emphasis on manufacturing-related wrongdoing. Biden’s OSHA will broaden that scope, both by industry and by citation type, using a few well-known methods at its disposal, she said.

“The general duty clause is an available tool that we think the Biden administration may use … Read more...

How to Build Supply Chain Resiliency in a Pandemic World

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Supply Chain Resiliency

When we go shopping at our local grocery store, pharmacy, hardware outlet, or just about any other kind of retailer, we expect the goods we’re seeking to be there, sitting on the shelf, ready for us to purchase and take home to use whenever we so desire. We take for granted this instantaneous availability of practically anything we want or need.


The Robust Design and Interconnected Systems of Global Supply Chains


What we so infrequently consider is why we are able to do so. The answer lies in the advanced efficiencies built into the modern supply chain that underpins these products’ raw material sourcing, manufacture, and ultimate delivery to the retail outlets we frequent. It’s easy to forget all the necessary steps that must take place for us to enjoy this convenient consumption.

Because supply chains have become so invisibly ingrained in our lives, it’s also easy to forget just … Read more...

How Much Will the Election Results Influence OSHA?

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OSHA Election Results

OSHA will take one of two very different approaches to health and safety rulemaking and enforcement over the next four years, depending on who emerges victorious in November’s U.S. Presidential election. A recent webinar explored how those visions differ and hypothesized what tangible effects either a Joe Biden or Donald Trump victory will have on the agency.


The Pandemic Priority


Regardless of who wins, OSHA’s key focus will invariably be on managing the current COVID-19, pandemic, asserted Kate McMahon, partner at Conn Maciel Carey, the Washington, D.C. law firm focused on labor and employment, workplace safety and litigation that hosted the webinar. However, the form that management will take will look significantly different depending on who prevails at the polls. If it’s Biden, it is highly likely his administration will issue a federal-level Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) within its first 100 days.

“It will codify and make mandatory a lot … Read more...

How to Drive Your Safety Engagement with Data

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When a workforce buys into safety, good things happen. When everyone from the CEO to the rookie shipper/receiver comes to work each day recognizing how important safety is to them and their colleagues, the number of fatalities, injuries and near misses invariably starts to plummet.

As any safety manager will tell you, however, increasing engagement is easier said than done. Competing priorities, such as rigid product ship dates, unforgiving supply chain schedules and other factors tied directly to the bottom line, can have a negative impact on safety practices. 

Fortunately, robust new technologies and modern workplace health and safety approaches like Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) are providing companies with a greater ability than ever before to increase engagement levels across the enterprise. By leveraging data that is now available in today’s information-driven “Industry 4.0” era, organizations are able to see deep into their operations to recognize meaningful operational patterns … Read more...

OSHA Forecast Sees Inspections, WV Measures – and Even Drones – On the Rise

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A leadership vacuum, a surprising increase in enforcement activity, and the potential “rise of the drones” all characterize OSHA as it closes the books on 2018 and moves into 2019.

These were some of the observations that representatives of Conn Maciel Carey LLP, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm specializing in occupational health and safety issues, put forth during a recent webinar. Hazards, injuries, prevention measures, preparedness, preventing fatalities and general occupational safety and health reigned top of mind while looking into the coming 2019 year.

In reviewing key OSHA developments in 2018, Eric Conn, Chair of the firm’s OSHA Workplace Safety Practice Group, said the most notable event of 2018 was a non-event – namely, the lack of an appointment of an Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. “We’re nearly two years into the Trump administration and there is still [no one in the role],” he said. “We have … Read more...

Brexit Worries, CDM 2015 Define Future of Health and Safety in U.K. Construction

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The likelihood of a construction worker being killed on the job in the United Kingdom is on average four times higher than in other industries. With the sector employing roughly seven percent of the U.K. workforce, that translates into a high number of people who unfortunately do not return home at the end of the work day.

According to the U.K. Health and Safety Executive, the government agency that oversees workplace health and safety, there were 38 fatal injuries to workers (and six to members of the public) in the construction sector during the period between April 2017 and March 2018. That number has not changed in five years, with the average during the past half-decade sitting at 39 fatalities per year.

It’s easy to discern the causes for a large majority of these deaths. According to the HSE, a staggering 47 percent of construction-related fatalities were due to falls … Read more...

The Ultimate ISO 45001 Checklist

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Demonstrating performance of environment, health, and safety (EHS) initiatives is a challenge. There are the obvious legal compliance and established safety policy obligations, but to truly optimize an EHS management program, there also must be a management-led culture of a commitment to safety, inclusive and open communication among employees, and demonstrated continuous improvement of risk management. The purpose of ISO 45001, the Occupational Health and Safety Management Standard published by the International Standards Organization (ISO), seeks to provide employers of all sizes worldwide a tool that will enable them to proactively identify and manage EHS risks and specifically evaluate the performance of EHS programs.

Although ISO 45001 is an effective way of enhancing EHS performance, it can be a cumbersome task to fulfill its requirements. This checklist will audit your conformance with the evaluation components in section 9 of the standard. Even if you are not seeking official ISO 45001 … Read more...

How Temporary and Contract Workers Affect Your Safety Program

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Employers can enjoy many benefits from hiring temporary workers, contractors and on-call workers — a group that is collectively known as “non-permanent” workers. The flexibility that allows them to quickly respond to changing workloads is a key driver, as is the ability to bring in specialized help and expertise on an as-needed basis for tasks such as confined-space work.

The arrangement offers benefits for workers, too; many who work on a contract or contingent basis have chosen to do so and prefer to work this way.

Unfortunately, organizations that have abused the system of temporary and contract labor have drawn scrutiny from regulatory and enforcement agencies, casting a shadow over the system’s benefits. Employers must be aware of new regulations that aim to ensure the health and safety of temporary and contract workers, such as OSHA’s Temporary Worker Initiative.

Along with compliance, employers must stay up to speed on other … Read more...

Construction Abatements, Data Collection OSHA’s Chief Challenges: Report

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Obtaining reliable data about workplace injuries is hindering OSHA’s efforts to determine how best to use its resources to help protect U.S. workers’ health and safety, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DoL) Office of Inspector General. This challenge is particularly acute in high-risk industries like forestry, fishing, agriculture, mining and construction.

The report, titled “Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor,” details challenges faced by all arms of the DoL, of which OSHA is a part.

The situation, the DoL writes, is exacerbated by underreporting of injuries by employers. Without reliable data regarding workplace injuries, OSHA “lacks the information needed to effectively focus inspection and compliance efforts on the most hazardous workplaces.”

One former OSHA official, however, believes the agency already receives more than enough data to prioritize its actions.

“Most employers over-report, not under-report. They put stuff down … Read more...