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OSHA Enforcement on the Rise

Preparing for Workplace Safety Investigations, Responding to Citations, and Negotiating Penalties

Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar/teleconference with Q&A

Conducted on Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Recorded event now available

This CLE webinar will discuss current trends in OSHA enforcement and explain how OSHA approaches and carries out its workplace investigations. The panel will provide best practices for employment counsel when preparing for and participating in an OSHA inspection, responding to citations, and negotiating penalties.

Description

The Obama administration has identified OSHA compliance as a top enforcement priority and has promised to aggressively monitor businesses for compliance with workplace safety requirements.

Employers and their counsel should prepare now for increased safety inspections, closer scrutiny of injury recordkeeping and reporting, a stronger focus on investigations of employee whistleblower claims, and tougher negotiations with OSHA regarding penalties and citations.

Listen as an authoritative panel of employment law attorneys explains current OSHA enforcement trends and describes how OSHA approaches and carries out workplace investigations. The panel will outline strategies for preparing for and participating in an inspection, responding to citations, and negotiating penalties with OSHA.

Outline

Current OSHA enforcement trends
1. Increased budget for OSHA inspectors and enforcement programs
2. More aggressive penalties
3. National emphasis program on injury and illness recordkeeping
4. Pending legislation — Protecting America’s Workers Act of 2009
Preparing for OSHA investigations
1. Two types of investigations
  1. Compliance investigations
  2. Whistleblower investigations
2. Internal and external audits of OSHA compliance
3. Effective, current safety and health program
4. Adequate recordkeeping
5. Manager and employee training
6. Safety committees
Participating in an OSHA inspection
1. Selecting company representative
2. Opening conference and record requests
3. Walkaround inspection
4. Employee and supervisor interviews
5. Closing conference
Responding to OSHA citations and negotiating penalties
1. Appeal procedures
2. Settlements

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

What should employers expect from the recent increase in OSHA enforcement?
What steps can employers and their counsel take to prepare for an OSHA inspection?
What strategies should employers use when responding to a citation and negotiating penalties arising from an OSHA inspection?

Faculty

James A. Lastowka, Partner
McDermott Will & Emery, Washington, D.C.

He has practiced exclusively in the field of occupational safety and health for close to 30 years. He is a recognized authority on OSHA and MSHA law and has a nationwide safety and health practice. He handles the full range of OSHA and MSHA litigation, including appeals of citations, penalties and withdrawal orders, and investigating and defending discrimination and whistleblower complaints.

Peter R. Spanos, Partner
Burr & Forman, Atlanta

His experience includes: employment policies, procedures and “best practices;” Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions; wrongful termination and employment discrimination lawsuits and charges; discrimination class actions; unfair competition and trade secrets; construction industry labor relations; OSHA; Davis-Bacon; labor/RICO issues; and wage and hour law.

Patricia A. Poole, Partner
Baker Hostetler, Cleveland

She has significant experience assisting employers with matters involving federal and state safety and health statutes and regulations, including defending OSHA citations and whistleblower claims. In addition, she has worked with many clients in the aftermath of catastrophic workplace events causing injuries, property damage and other types of loss.

Ordering

Online CLE

Includes audio streaming of full program plus handouts (available 24 hours after live seminar).

CLE: Pre-approved for participatory or non-traditional/alternate format credit in: CA, HI*, NY*, WV*. Pre-approved for self-study credit in: AK, AZ, MO, MT, TX, VT, WA.
Upon request, also available in: CO, CT*, FL, GA, ID, KY, LA, ME, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OR*, SC, TN, UT, WI*, WY. If you are applying for credit in one of these states, make sure to select those states when placing your order.
(*Indicates that Strafford must report attendance.)

Online CLE Audio $74.50
Available 24 hours after the live event