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OSHA Announces Highest Proposed Fine of 2019 (More than $1.3 Million)

OSHA announced a major proposed fine of more than $1.3 million earlier this week for a metal heat treatment company in Ohio. The proposed citations and penalties allege that the company exposed employees to atmospheric, thermal, electrical, and mechanical hazards and include 25 willful, serious, and other-than-serious violations.  The allegations relate to confined space issues, falls,...

Practical Implications for Energy Companies of Trump Administration’s Use of Congressional Review Act

Upon taking office with the promise to reduce regulations, the new administration and the U.S. Congress used the Congressional Review Act to repeal 14 “midnight” regulations passed by the previous administration.  Of the 14 repealed regulations, there are three that are of note for companies involved in mining operations domestically, in oil and gas exploration abroad, or who are...

Root Cause Analysis Must Be Produced Where Not Substantively Different from Analyses Prepared in Ordinary Course of Business

An Arizona federal court granted a motion to compel production of a Root Cause Analysis Report (“Report”) prepared by a third party at the request of the owner of an electric power station generator that failed.  Following the generator’s failure, the owner’s general counsel emailed two senior managers in the company instructing them to retain a third-party investigator to conduct a...

New OSHA Reporting Rule Takes Effect January 1, 2017

Earlier this year, OSHA issued its final rule requiring some employers to electronically submit workplace safety information.  Some of this information will subsequently be made public, meaning that employers and the public will have access to employer-specific data to compare safety performance.  In addition, the final rule expressly contains anti-retaliation measures for workers who...

Third Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Asbestos Exposure Case

The Third Circuit partially reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a manufacturing company in an asbestos exposure case after finding that a reasonable jury could find the manufacturer may have exposed the worker to asbestos.  The Plaintiff (the estate of a deceased pipefitter) alleged that the pipefitter’s terminal lung cancer was caused to forty-five years of...

Key Considerations for Post-Incident Media Response

In today’s world, news of a corporate disaster or fatal injury travels fast.  In less than a minute from the time an incident occurs, media phone calls begin.  There are countless recent examples of how companies have botched initial post-incident communications in such a way that their actions have led to devastating consequences, from inviting political attacks or litigation to...

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