What To Expect From OSHA In 2016 And Beyond

By Mark A. Lies, II, Patrick D. Joyce, and Adam R. Young

The New Year is here and with that comes yet another year of enhanced OSHA enforcement and new OSHA regulations. Further, due to the upcoming end of President Obama’s time in office , questions exist as to whether OSHA will continue with its aggressive agenda of enhanced enforcement with increased citations and greater penalties or whether OSHA will respond due to political pressure from the Congress. In either case, the New Year will bring new levels of uncertainty with the agency that we have not seen since the current Administration took office in 2009. This article will address OSHA’s current and upcoming enforcement initiatives and trends, all of which will affect employers in the coming year.

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Topics Covered
OSHA’S ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES
INCREASED OSHA PENALTIES
INCREASED USE OF THE GENERAL DUTY CLAUSE
OSHA TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMITS
MULTI-EMPLOYER WORKSITE DOCTRINE
FINAL IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW GLOBALLY HARMONIZED SYSTEM (GHS) STANDARDS
TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES
POTENTIAL RECORDKEEPING RULE CHANGES
NEW SILICA RULE EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED BY JANUARY 2017
ENHANCED CRIMINAL LIABILITY
OSHA’S USE OF THE RAPID RESPONSE FORM
HOW TO DEAL WITH AN AGING WORKFORCE
MIDNIGHT REGULATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS