NH ‘Guns at Work’ Law Set to Take Effect

December 18, 2024

 

OSHA Today will take its annual winter break starting Monday, Dec. 23, 2024 and resume daily publication on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.             Happy Holidays to all of our valued subscribers!

 

New Hampshire ‘Guns at Work’ Law Set to Take Effect

  • With New Hampshire’s “Guns at Work” law coming into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, employers are being advised to take steps to ensure compliance.
  • Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law earlier this year the law that expands the already-broad gun rights in the permitless carry state.
  • Employers will be prohibited from requiring an employee to disclose whether they are storing a firearm or ammunition in their vehicle, or conduct a search of the employee’s vehicle for a firearm or ammunition.
  • In a Monday blog post, Joshua Nadreau of the law firm Fisher Phillips, advised that firms should work with counsel to determine whether the firm is a “covered employer” and, if so, fine-tune policies and practices to balance the business’ obligations “under the new state law with your rights as an employer and your obligations under other laws (such as the OSH Act) – especially if your workers are at higher risk of experiencing workplace violence.”
    READ MORE

 

ASSP Updates Standards on Safety Training, Hazardous Energy

  • The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) on Monday released updates to standards, one to enhance safety training and another on preventing hazardous energy incidents.
  • The first revised standard is ANSI/ASSP Z490.1-2024, which focuses on developing effective safety, health, and environmental training programs.
  • It now includes both in-person and virtual training, outlining methods for evaluating training effectiveness, ensuring compliance, and aligning programs with company policies and regulatory requirements.
  • The second is ANSI/ASSP Z244.1-2024, which addresses controlling hazardous energy through lockout, tagout and alternative methods.
  • The revisions highlight the need to protect workers from hazardous energy sources, such as electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and thermal energy.
  • ASSP’s voluntary consensus standards are designed to address gaps and incorporate the latest industry advancements.
    READ MORE

 

Nasdaq-listed Solar Panel Maker Cited for Repeat Safety Violations

  • A Des Plaines, Illinois  solar panel and battery storage company has been cited for two repeat safety violations after OSHA investigators found the company exposed workers to deadly fall hazards twice within three months.
  • Employees of Sunrun Installation Services were observed working without required fall protection while installing solar panels at two suburban Chicago homes, on June 18, 2024, and on Aug. 8, 2024.
  • The federal safety agency has proposed $288,087 in penalties for the two violations. Sunrun has been cited previously for similar violations in Massachusetts in 2022 and New Jersey in 2023, according to the Labor Department’s Dec. 16 notice,
  • San Francisco-based Sunrun claims to  operate the “second largest fleet of residential solar energy systems” in the U.S. The NASDAQ-traded company (ticker SUN) has a market cap of $2.34 billion.
  • READ MORE