OSHA

Examples of our experience include:

Preventive Counseling & Assistance

• Counseling clients to ensure compliance with OSHA and state and federal environmental regulations and minimize exposure to citations and penalties.
• Providing training programs on preparing for OSHA inspections and other important OSHA issues and targeting initiatives.
• Developing orientation and training programs on OSHA and plant safety for management, supervisors, and authorized and affected employees. Topics often include lockout/tagout; monitoring and surveillance of occupational exposure; equipment inspection, maintenance, and repair; safety and progressive discipline programs; hazard communication; confined space entry; fall protection; and transportation and product storage issues.
• Representing chemical manufacturers in connection with process safety management and partnering on industry best practices.
• Working with expert consultants and outside safety professionals to conduct privileged and protected plant safety audits
• Counseling manufacturers and suppliers on OSHA compliance concerning the development, delivery, and use of specially made equipment and other machines.
• Evaluating machine guarding issues and persuading product manufacturers to provide employers with additional guarding, warnings, or safety devices where necessary.
• Developing warnings, instructions, standard operating procedures, and job safety analyses for equipment and manufacturing processes.
• Counseling contractors and employers on OSHA compliance relating to lifting, handling, and use of heavy equipment and materials and other ergonomic issues.
• Implementing OSHA and other recordkeeping and reporting programs to limit liability exposure.
• Drafting contracts and counseling on risk transfer solutions and insurance coverage to protect companies that hire and work with outside contractors.

Investigations & Negotiations

• Providing timely and complete investigations of accidents and responding to ensuing regulatory investigations.
• Counseling on effective abatement of safety issues and corrective action plans.
• Assisting with all aspects of OSHA investigations, including plant and equipment inspections; employee and management interviews; and closing, informal, and other settlement conferences.
• Negotiating settlements of citations, often resulting in their withdrawal, dismissal, or reclassification or the reduction or elimination of penalties with no admission of liability.
• Assisting companies in responding to employee and union complaints and OSHA inspections used by organized labor during union organizing campaigns.
• Settling disputes among employers, contractors, and subcontractors arising from serious accidents in manufacturing facilities or on construction projects.
• Settling citations by focusing on unique circumstances or unforeseeable employee misconduct to prevent repeat or willful citations.

OSHA & Related Litigation

• Defending OSHA citations involving fatalities, amputations, burns, and other serious injuries arising from machine guarding, lockout/tagout, improper training, structural collapse, chemical and dust exposure, fires, and explosions.
• Resolving OSHA whistleblower retaliation cases by establishing that employers’ decisions to terminate or discipline employees were not retaliatory.
• Defending citations alleging machine guarding violations by proving that there was no hazard or exposure to a hazard, including in situations involving mixers, grinding wheels, lathes, CNC machines, presses, and shearing machines.
• Defending contractors against significant citations relating to lead and asbestos exposure, excavation and trenching operations, fall protection, and training programs.
• Establishing OSHRC precedent requiring OSHA to prove that employee exposure to unguarded machines and other hazards was reasonably predictable.
• Proving that machine guarding was not feasible and would compromise the utility of employers’ manufacturing operations.
• Obtaining the dismissal or withdrawal of citations, saving employers considerable costs and resources to retrofit or redesign their plant operations nationally.
• Defending citations and intentional tort cases involving workplace fatalities and serious injuries in cases involving a variety of issues and products, including machine guarding, lockout/tagout, Legionnaire’s Disease, slips and falls, presses, forklifts, cranes, railings and racking systems, welding machines and consumables, coatings, chemical and dust exposure, construction equipment malfunctions, and material storage and transportation issues.
• Defending citations involving the storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids.
• Obtaining dismissals of citations involving personal protective equipment, respiratory protection, and eyewash requirements.
• Defending citations involving excavation, trenching, and sloping operations.
• Coordinating dismissal of citations relating to restraints, hoists, and protective equipment on powered industrial trucks and cranes.
• Defending lockout/tagout citations by proving that lockout/tagout programs were effective and proactively enforced.
• Defending citations alleging exposure to lead, dust, and other hazardous chemicals used in manufacturing and construction operations.
• Defending chemical exposure and burn cases by establishing that clients had effective hazardous communication programs in place.