Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

Since the 1980s, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has required most employers to protect their workers from workplace chemical hazards, and to train workers to protect themselves.  Most employers are subject to OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS; 29 CFR 1910.1200), or to variants imposed by states delegated OSHA’s authority. Many of the present requirements were established by massive revisions adopted in March 2012, when OSHA recast HCS to align it with the United Nations-sponsored Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).  OSHA’s 2012 revisions conformed the US to GHS Revision 3, which was issued internationally in 2002.  The most obvious change was the adoption of Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) to replace longstanding Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), but employers faced a series of deadlines during 2013-2016. 

On May 20, 2024, OSHA significantly updated HCS requirements for the first time since 2012, primarily to reflect GHS changes through Revision 7 (which was published in 2017). OSHA’s revisions take effect on July 19. The remainder of this note summarizes these changes, based on the affected subsections or appendices.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is authorized to inspect regulated workplaces, although it generally inspects only workplaces deemed highly hazardous (which typically are targeted sector-wide by OSHA National Emphasis Programs (NEPs) or their regional or state equivalents), or those subject response to complaints or reported incidents of injury or illness (I&I). On April 1, OSHA revised provisions in its inspection standard (29 CFR 1903) clarifying which “employee representatives” can accompany an inspector during a walk-around; the revisions are to become effective on May 31. This revision reflects part of broader inspection revisions proposed on August 30, 2023 (which I wrote about HERE). The rest of this note discusses the change to walk-around provisions.

This is the time of year when employers in many parts of the continent should be making focused effort to protect workers against winter weather. Occupational safety and health regulators include environmental and ambient hazards among those that employers must consider as part of their “general duty” to protect workers against recognized hazards. Requirements cover potential harm from extreme temperatures including cold, as well as slippery surfaces and other hazards from frozen and melting snow or other precipitation.

Agency regulations cover many specified types of situations, and guidelines are available for more. For example, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) is drawing attention to its “Winter Weather” webpage as a source of information. The rest of this note summarizes information from OSHA’s webpage and those of other occupational safety agencies.

Saskatchewan’s Employment Act (SEA) requires employers to take action to protect their employees against workplace violence. Since 1997, express requirements have applied to workplaces “prescribed” by regulations based on higher hazards; effective on May 17, 2024 these requirements apply in all workplaces, implementing SEA amendments enacted in 2023 by Bill 91 (“The Saskatchewan Employment (Part III) Amendment Act, 2022”). The rest of this summarizes workplace violence prevention (WVP) requirements set forth in the SEA, and in regulations issued and administered by the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Division of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Standard for Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (usually referred to as “PSM”) requires extensive risk assessments and reduction efforts by facilities where a significant incident involving these chemicals might have catastrophic consequences. OSHA adopted PSM in 1992, and has made only minor technical revisions in the ensuing three decades. OSHA has also issued enforcement guidance to its inspectors, which it had not revised since 2012. However, in December 2023 OSHA issued an extensive new PSM enforcement policy, most of which is formatted in a total of 192 Questions and Responses designed to guide enforcement – and compliance that can obviate enforcement. The remainder of this note provides a very brief summary of the 120 page Enforcement Policy document.

On November 22, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Safety and Health information Bulletin (SHIB) discussing “safety helmets” as evolved alternatives to traditional hard hats, and offering recommendations for situations where employers should switch. On December 11 the agency announced that it’s following its own advice and replacing its own employees/inspectors hard hats with safety helmets. The rest of this note discusses OSHA provisions for personal protective equipment (PPE) providing head protection, and the rationale and examples of the benefits of upgraded headgear.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region 3 (covering Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia) has renewed a Regional Emphasis Program under which it focuses inspection resources on “High Level Noise.” This announcement provides a useful reminder to employers throughout the US to evaluate occupational noise and the risks of employees’ hearing loss. The remainder of this note summarizes OSHA’s Occupational Noise Standard for General industry (separate requirements cover construction).

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides a “Young Workers - You have rights!” webpage on its website, compiling regulatory and practical information for employers and workers. As we approach the annual spike in youth employment during the end-of-year Holidays, this provides a timely reminder to focus on the needs and rights of young people in workplaces. The webpage targets information as follows:

• Young Workers
• Employers
• Parents and Educators
• Real Stories
• Hazards
• Resources

The remainder of this note summarizes these materials, focusing on information useful to employers.

On October 24, 2023, WorkSafeBC, British Columbia’s provincial occupational health and safety (OHS) regulator and workers’ compensation overseer, issued a reminder to employers to address the hazards of workplace slips, trips and falls. The reminder began with a recitation that approximately 20 percent of all workplace injuries in the province relate to slips, trips, and falls. The agency also reported that “in the past six years, almost 41,000 workers in B.C. suffered slip-trip-and-fall injuries, including fractures, sprains, and dislocations.” The agency notice follows these statistics with reminders of what employers can and should do to reduce the likelihood and severity of these injuries. The remainder of this note summarizes this information.`

Throughout North America, Canadian occupational health and safety (OHS) agencies and US occupational safety and health (OSH) agencies administer and enforce worker protection laws. These laws require extensive employer efforts to protect employees – although in some situations it’s unclear which employer(s) are responsible for which workers. These complex situations include construction sites where one or more landowners or property occupiers hire one or more contractors to performer work. In November 2023 the Supreme Court of Canada deadlocked four-to-three-to-one in a case involving liability for a municipal “owner” that had attempted to contract all responsibilities (and potential liabilities) to the contractor (“constructor”) hired to repair a municipal water main, after a worksite death. (R. v. Greater Sudbury (City)) Because the Supreme Court deadlocked, the Ontario Court of Appeal decision finding the city liable becomes the law of the case, overturning many years of practice in which owners contracted-out OHS responsibilities to their constructors.