OSHA Mulls Oversight of Entertainment Workers

OSHA has filed a proposed rule in which it says it has no authority over “known hazards that are inherent and inseparable from the core nature of a professional activity or performance,” Forbes reported this week.
On July 1, OSHA filed a proposed rule through which it seeks to interpret the General Duty Clause as excluding from its jurisdiction “known hazards that are inherent and inseparable from the core nature of a professional activity or performance.”
OSHA says it cannot “prohibit, restrict, or penalize inherently risky activities that are intrinsic to professional, athletic, or entertainment occupations.”
The agency estimates that 514 employers would be affected by the rule and it would save each employer an average of $1,000 annually, resulting in a total estimated cost savings of $514,000.
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OSHA compliance assistance programs, such as the Voluntary Protection Programs, provide incentives to employers to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses without punishing job creators, according to a statement from the U.S. House Committee on Education & Workforce.
The statement came ahead of a hearing of the panel’s subcommittee on Workforce Protections Wednesday to examine how to better support these programs.
The panel heard from a Cintas executive, who said that rather than enabling employers to avoid their compliance obligations, VPP workplaces typically are held to a higher standard.
“When it comes to audits… on an annual basis we need to submit our records of where we are for continuous improvement. And then every so often, [OSHA has] to come back and re-evaluate our site to make sure that we’re held to that standard. In addition to that, when submitting our applications, [incident rates] have to be below or at the industry average,” Myron Harper, National Health and Safety Director at Cintas Corporation, told the panel.
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A new law in Minnesota requires employers to take a more transparent and deliberate approach before disciplining or terminating a registered medical cannabis patient.
Effective May 24, the statute mandates 14 days’ written notice before adverse action is taken, and that notice must cite the specific federal law or regulation the employer believes compels such action.
It gives employees and applicants an opportunity to respond, challenge, or resolve the situation without the immediate threat of job loss or discipline.
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Jordan Barab, who was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor at OSHA from 2009 to 2017, lashed out at OSHA’s move earlier this month that would cut fines for small companies and those without a record of serious problems.
Writing in on Confined Spaces, Barab said that OSHA fines are already too low, with the maximum fine for a serious violation set at $16,550 and the average serious violation fined at $4,083.
“Penalties for violating OSHA standards and imperiling workers’ health and lives are already embarrassingly low,” Barab said. “But apparently not low enough for the Trump administration.”
OSHA said in a July 14 update to its field guide that it would give smaller companies with fewer than 26 employees more opportunities for reductions in penalties.
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