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Governor Newsom Expected to Sign Bill Creating New Labor Code Violations, Expanding Cal/OSHA Subpoena Powers

The California Legislature will soon send Senate Bill (SB) No. 606 to Governor Gavin Newsom, who is likely to sign the bill into law. The bill would make substantial changes to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) citation structure by creating two new categories of violations: “enterprise-wide” and “egregious.” The bill would also provide Cal/OSHA with additional subpoena power during investigations.

Karen F. Tynan Sacramento Author

Martha I. Casillas Orange County Author

OFCCP Publishes Fiscal Year 2021 Corporate Scheduling Announcement List for Construction Contractors

On September 1, 2021, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published its Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) identifying 400 construction federal contractors and federally assisted contractors and subcontractors for fiscal year 2021 (FY 2021), which runs from October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022.

Morgan Pike Epperson Birmingham Author

Cal/OSHA Updates Online Resources for California Employers

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) recently updated its frequently asked questions (FAQs) guidance, “COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Frequently Asked Questions”. The FAQs clarified some areas of the regulation and provided additional guidance for California employers, particularly construction companies. Under the Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) adopted on November 30, 2020, California construction companies face specific standards related to transportation and workplace exposures that create unique questions and challenges.

Karen F. Tynan Sacramento Author

COVID-19 and Construction: Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards Address Issues for Industry Employers

James L. Shea Sacramento Author

Karen F. Tynan Sacramento Author

OSHA Issues COVID-19 Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry

On July 7, 2020, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued COVID-19 control and prevention guidance for oil and gas industry workers and employers. The guidance supplements OSHA’s interim guidance for the general workforce.

John F. Martin Washington D.C. Author

Phillip B. Russell Tampa Author

OSHA Issues Inspection Guidance for Enforcement of Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard

On June 25, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Inspection Procedures for the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standards. The new procedures, 124 pages in length, went into effect immediately.

John F. Martin Washington D.C. Author

Phillip B. Russell Tampa Author

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green—Go! Considerations for Reopening in Mexico: Social, Educational, and Economic Activities

The federal government of Mexico is implementing a sanitary alert system—called the “traffic light” system—for gradually reopening activities, including the economy in a safe and durable manner. The reopening will be performed in three phases.

Pietro Straulino-Rodriguez Mexico City Author

Nora M. Villalpando Badillo Mexico City Author

OSHA Issues Updated COVID-19 Guidance for Construction Industry Employers

On May 27, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its guidance for employers performing construction work of all types. The agency’s guidance is not a standard or regulation, so it is not legally binding. Nonetheless, construction industry employers may want to consider OSHA’s recommendations when developing and updating their workplace safety and health plans, for two reasons. First, the guidance indicates which measures OSHA might allege are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s General Duty Clause, just as it has done with heat stress, workplace violence, and other hazards for which it has no specific standard. Second, the document may indicate what employees may expect their employers to do as more people get back to work.

Phillip B. Russell Tampa Author

Arthur G. Sapper Washington D.C. Author

Illinois’s Workers’ Compensation Rule Update: Court Halts Enforcement of New Rule That Presumes COVID-19 Infections Are Work-Related

On April 27, 2020, the Illinois Workers; Compensation Commission rescinded its emergency rule that had expanded the presumption of work relatedness for COVID-19 infections to all businesses that are deemed to be critical under Governor Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.

Randolph E. Ruff Chicago Author

Eric A. Berg Chicago Author

What Six-Foot Rule? OSHA Construction Fall Standard Forces the OSH Review Commission to State It Does Not Exist

The debate has raged for years. Is there a six-foot rule triggering fall protection requirements when an employee is within six feet of an unprotected edge? A construction fall protection standard adopted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not expressly state there is such a six-foot rule, but many employers, industry safety experts, and even some OSHA inspectors have followed one as a rule of thumb.

Phillip B. Russell Tampa Author

Arthur G. Sapper Washington D.C. Author

Court Halts Enforcement of Illinois’s New Workers’ Compensation Rule That Presumes COVID-19 Infections Are Work-Related

On April 13, 2020, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission established an emergency rule amending the Illinois Administrative Code for workers’ compensation hearings that creates a rebuttable evidentiary presumption for workers infected with COVID-19 who work in “critical” industries as defined in Governor J. B. Pritzker’s March 20, 2020, stay-at-home order, as well as those who are first responders.

Randolph E. Ruff Chicago Author

Eric A. Berg Chicago Author

OSHA Issues COVID-19 Compliance Guidance for Construction Workforces

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a series of tips tailored to construction work to help reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

Arthur G. Sapper Washington D.C. Author

Phillip B. Russell Tampa Author

New Jersey Closes all Non-Essential Construction Projects

On April 8, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 122, requiring the closure of all non-essential construction projects beginning at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2020. The executive order does not define “non-essential construction project”; instead, it lists the following “essential construction projects” that may continue to operate.

Jennifer Rygiel-Boyd Morristown Author

Tips for General Contractors for Ongoing Building Projects During the COVID-19 Crisis

In response to COVID-19, state and local governments are issuing orders suspending “non-essential” business. At this point in the COVID-19 pandemic, construction work is often included on the list of essential business, particularly if it relates to utilities, telecommunications, transportation, and healthcare infrastructure.

Josh C. Harrison Birmingham Author

Randolph E. Ruff Chicago Author

Construction One-Minute Read: Illinois Restricts Retainage on Private Construction Projects

Every private construction project in Illinois will be affected by a new law, effective immediately. The Contractor Prompt Payment Act (815 ILCS 603/1, et seq.) was amended to restrict the use of retainage on construction projects.

Eric A. Berg Chicago Author

NLRB’s Proposed Rule Change Expands Employee Free Choice in the Construction Industry

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees have the right to determine whether union representation is in their best interests. The freedom of employees to make this critical choice in an atmosphere free of coercion or intimidation is one of the Act’s bedrock principles.

Eric C. Stuart Morristown Author

Richard L. Samson Chicago Author

Construction One-Minute Read: Illinois Fails to Make General Contractors Responsible for All Wages on Private Projects

The big legislative news in Illinois this spring concerned the passage of a law permitting marijuana for recreational use, beginning January 1, 2020. This development overshadowed other news affecting the construction industry—most notably, a failed attempt to make general contractors on every private project responsible for all unpaid wages to all workers.

Is Scabby the Rat Headed for a Deflating Experience?

Construction employers and general contractors are all too familiar with Scabby the Rat. The inflatable rat—appearing in sizes of up to a reported 30 feet tall—has infested construction job sites as part of trade union protest activities targeting employers that are not signatory to union labor agreements.

Timothy C. Kamin Milwaukee Author

Homebuyers’ Implied Warranty of Habitability Suit Against Subcontractors Is Frozen out by Illinois Supreme Court

Overruling 35 years of precedent, the Illinois Supreme Court has held that buyers of newly constructed homes cannot sue subcontractors for breach of the implied warranty of habitability.

Eric A. Berg Chicago Author

Construction One-Minute Read: What If Your Insurance Carrier Negligently Provides Insufficient Coverage?

On October 18, 2018, the Illinois Supreme Court clarified when the statute of limitations begins to run on a claim for negligent procurement of insurance by an insurance agent or broker.

Dig This! OSHA Renews Its Focus on Trenching and Excavation

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officially kicked off its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Trenching and Excavation on October 1, 2018. With the NEP comes enhanced enforcement, education, and a new OSHA instruction related to OSHA’s trenching and excavation standards in Subpart P of the Construction Standards.

John F. Martin Washington D.C. Author

Construction One-Minute Read: “OH No!” Buckeye State’s Supreme Court Nixes Insurance for Subcontractors’ Defective Work

In an opinion released on October 9, 2018, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that a general contractor’s commercial general liability insurance did not cover the defective work of either that contractor or its subcontractors.

Eric A. Berg Chicago Author

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