OSHA Focused on Mental Health

• Mental health issues could be a key priority among litigators to get OSHA to use its enforcement powers to protect workers from stress on the job.
• In response, OSHA has already launched voluntary suicide prevention and mental health awareness campaigns.
• The regulatory advocacy group Governing for Impact and 19 other organizations asked OSHA to protect employees’ mental health by limiting electronic surveillance and production quotas.
• Corporate attorneys claim pursuing mental health-based citations against employers or issuing a mental health regulation would only lead to prolonged litigation cases.
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Activists push Dollar Tree for safety

• Dollar General is currently facing more than $16 million in fines from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for safety hazards, including blocked fire exits, blocked electrical outlets, and dangerous levels of clutter.
• Now, a pair of activist investment firms have proposed resolutions before Dollar General’s and Dollar Tree’s shareholders to improve worker safety and wages.
• Dollar General is considered a “severe violator” of workplace safety by federal regulators, and employees of Dollar Tree allege they aren’t paid a livable wage.
• The companies’ boards have asked shareholders to vote against the proposals.
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Amputation leads to severe penalty

• United Hospital Supply Corp. in Burlington, New Jersey, faces $498,000 in penalties after the November 2022 incident that led to the amputation of a worker’s three fingers.
• OSHA cited the company, which produces metal products for hospitals, laboratories, and schools, for a willful violation because supervisors and employees deliberately bypassed the press brake’s light curtain, which led to the amputation.
• The agency also cited United Hospital Supply for willfully failing to remove and repair an inoperable forklift and to provide hazard communication training for chemicals used in the facility.
• OSHA has cited the company for the forklift and chemical training violations in its inspections dating back to 2010.
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Pet company contests lawsuit

• Chewy Inc., an online pet supply retailer, should be cleared of an alleged OSHA violation for a forklift operator’s death after a recent development in the case.
• A federal agency cited the wrong law in its citation, which could cause the dismissal of the citation.
• The Chewy employee died from asphyxiation at an Ocala, Florida, warehouse when he became trapped between the forklift and a shelf.
• A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit questioned whether the forklift rule or general duty clause applies under OSHA guidelines.
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