OSHA Safety Attorneys

• Inspection Preparation
• Regulatory Training
• Compliance Audits
• Injury Reporting Audits and Compliance
• Informal Conference Preparation and Representation
• Citation Enforcement Defense—Negotiation and Litigation
• Accident Investigations
• Rulemaking Comment Assistance
• Appeals

Our firm also assists businesses with other workplace safety legal issues. Regardless of whether you think your legal issue or concern fits into one of the categories above, you should get in touch with the team at Whitcomb Selinsky, PC to learn about how we can assist your business. We regularly help small business owners with a wide range of OSHA and other workplace safety law matters.

If your business is going to undergo an OSHA compliance inspection, it is important to be prepared. You should know that OSHA inspectors can arrive at your business unannounced, and they are permitted to enter immediately at reasonable times during the workday. Indeed, OSHA rules, regulations and safety standards allow a compliance inspector to enter your workplace during regular working hours and at some other times considered reasonable. Inspections can occur because of an employee complaint, a program inspection, and other reasons. You want to be certain that you are in compliance if you will soon be visited by an OSHA compliance inspector. The experienced lawyers at our law firm can discuss a checklist you can put together to ensure compliance with safety regulations, recordkeeping requirements, and posting rules so that you are not cited for a violation.

OSHA requires employers to conduct workplace safety training and to comply with OSHA rules and regulations concerning worker safety. An OSHA publication clarifies that the following are examples of training requirements for most businesses and employers whenever relevant to a specific type of business:

• Emergency action plan procedures
• Fire prevention plan procedures
• Operating powered platforms for building maintenance
• Using a personal fall arrest system
• Reducing exposure to occupational noise
• Handling flammable liquids
• Using and handling explosive and blasting agents
• Storing and handling liquefied petroleum gases and other potentially toxic or harmful substances
• Hazardous waste operation

Different types of businesses are covered under different regulations, and it is important for employers to understand what types of training is required for employees. Employers need to be clear with employees, as well; if they are not properly trained to use a safety device, a type of material, a particular machine, or other items that require training for safety purposes, they cannot be required to do so until they have been properly trained. In addition to training, employers are required to comply with other types of OSHA rules and regulations.

Employers are required to engage in various types of recordkeeping, including many types of workplace injuries. OSHA updated its recordkeeping rule in 2015, which requires all employers to report any of the following:

• All work-related fatalities
• All work-related inpatient hospitalizations of an employee (or more than one employee)
• All work-related amputations
• All work-related losses of an eye

These reporting requirements are applicable even to certain employers who are otherwise exempt from particular OSHA requirements and other regulations. OSHA defines an amputation as “the traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part,” and it can include even a fingertip amputation. All work-related fatalities must be reported to OSHA within eight hours from the time that the employer learns about the fatality. Employers are also required to report any fatality that ultimately results from a workplace accident (even if it does not immediately lead to a worker’s death) within 30 days from the date of the initial incident that caused the worker’s injury. For work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, or eye loss, the employer is required to report the injury within 24 hours from the time the employer learns about it.

Beyond reporting injuries within specific periods of time, OSHA also requires employers to maintain records for each worksite for a minimum of five years. From February through April of each year, employers are also required to post information for employees about the workplace injuries and illnesses that occurred during the previous year. If you have questions about recordkeeping rules, reporting requirements, and compliance, it is important to work with an OSHA workplace injury lawyer who can help to ensure that your business is in compliance

Our attorneys at Whitcomb Selinsky, PC can help you to contest an OSHA citation and to reduce OSHA fines. After an OSHA inspection, if you receive a citation, the compliance officer will need to provide you with information that clarifies the nature of the violation, abatement measures you may be able to take to correct the violation, how long you have to correct the condition, and penalties that can be assessed to you.

Employers who do not agree with citations have 15 working days from the date of receiving the citation to contest it. The process for contesting an OSHA citation often begins with an informal conference with the OSHA area director. If you decide to contest the citation, you can then file a Notice of Intent to Contest. Once you have filed the Notice, your case will enter the litigation process, and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) will hear why you are contesting the citation. Then the case will be assigned to an administrative law judge. If you are not happy with the outcome after the hearing before the administrative law judge, you can then move into the appeals process.

For an appeal, an employer can request a review by the full OSHRC. If the employer still wants to appeal that decision by the full OSHRC, the employer may be able to appeal to the appropriate federal circuit court.

The OSHA team at Whitcomb Selinsky, PC, provides comprehensive counsel to a wide range of businesses across the United States.

Our team, led by a former Department of Labor Solicitor, counsels and represents clients grappling with enforcement matters arising from the regulatory agencies and proceedings filed under the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). Federal, state and even municipal regulatory compliance is often a confusing puzzle of complicated bureaucracy. Sorting out the regulations, including those under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, can be frustrating. Still, it is important to know what specific regulations apply to you and your employees. Being unprepared can open your business to risk in the event of an unannounced OSHA inspection, which can stretch on for days or even months. The team at Whitcomb Selinsky, PC, provides realistic compliance solutions and vigorous defense of OSHA enforcement actions.

If your business is facing any kind of OSHA or workplace safety issue, one of the dedicated lawyers at our firm can assist you. At Whitcomb Selinsky, PC, we are committed to providing tailored representation to each of our clients, especially when they are dealing with the possibility of an OSHA compliance violence or workplace safety citation. We will work with your business and will do everything we can to ensure that your business operations can continue smoothly.

While OSHA safety inspections and allegations of safety violations can be stressful, with an aggressive OSHA business workplace safety attorney on your side, you can feel secure knowing that the advocates at our firm have experience handling cases just like yours. Contact Whitcomb Selinsky, PC online or reach out to our offices by phone at 866-476-4558 to learn more about the services we provide in Colorado, northern Virginia, and across the country.