South Carolina must enforce OSHA guidelines

• A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by South Carolina seeking to prevent OSHA from forcing the state to increase maximum fines for workplace safety violations.
• US District Judge Sherri Lydon concluded OSHA’s decision requiring state workplace safety program maximum fines to match federal maximums wasn’t “a reviewable agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act.”
• The federal decision to raise maximum fine levels is not reviewable, the court ruled.
• OSHA intervened because South Carolina’s average safety fine is about 50% less than the agency’s penalties.
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Anchorage faces massive fines

• Despite settling a safety case for a fraction of the more than $600,000 proposed, the City of Anchorage, Alaska, could still face the original fine, plus tens of thousands more in penalties.
• The Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement Section cited the city for more than two dozen health and safety violations in 2021, labeling Anchorage a “severe violator.”
• Safety violations ranged from a lack of guardrails in some facilities and workers being exposed to electrical hazards, to failing to report workplace injuries on time.
• The settlement reduced the penalties from $627,637 to $92,233, contingent on the city abating the violative conditions and hiring a contractor to examine overall workplace safety for city employees.
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• A federal panel affirmed Walmart’s violation of federal workplace safety standards.
• Walmart was originally cited in 2017 when stored merchandise fell and seriously injured an employee at a facility in Johnstown, New York.
• The decision by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission found OSHA cited the discount retailer correctly for failing to meet the agency’s safety standard for the storage of material.
• The commission also ordered Walmart to correct the cited hazards within six months, given the physical changes the company must make at the warehouse to come into compliance with the standard.
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OSHA implements new whistleblower procedure

• OSHA’s new nationwide year-long pilot program is in effect and streamlines the whistleblower complaint intake process.
• There have been a rising number of whistleblower complaints filed to OSHA in recent years.
• Under the program, OSHA will administratively close a complaint if it facially is not covered by an OSHA-administered whistleblower statute.
• The agency will close a complaint if it is untimely filed and equitable tolling does not appear to apply or only alleges safety or compliance issues but does not allege retaliation or other prohibited activity.
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