Compliance Stuff

This three-part series on OSHA recordkeeping and reporting provides tips for employers on maintaining compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements. Part I  covered the foundational aspects of determining recordability, including the use of OSHA Forms 300, 301, and 300A, and the criteria for recording work-related injuries and illnesses. Part II  offered a step-by-step walkthrough for completing these forms accurately. Part III, our final installment, which follows below, details the reporting responsibilities for severe incidents such as fatalities, in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and the loss of an eye, emphasizing the importance of timely and accurate reporting. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to report any work‑related fatality within eight hours of learning of the death and to report any in‑patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within twenty‑four hours of lea...

Bottom Line Up Front On October 24, 2025, the Department of Defense (DoD)  DFARS Case 2024-D007  (“the final rule”) goes into effect, which amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to address national security concerns that may arise when a company provides consulting services to both the DoD and a foreign adversary . Going forward, a company that is providing or seeking to provide management, scientific, and technical consulting services to the DoD must now certify that neither it, nor its affiliates or subsidiaries, are providing consulting services to covered foreign entities. If they cannot make this certification, the company will need to have an approved conflict-of-interest mitigation plan in order to be awarded a DoD contract. The final rule and the DFARS amendment are intended to ensure that contractors advising the DoD are not simultaneously involved in activities that could negatively impact U.S. national security interests. Covered For...

Football, pumpkin spice, and Halloween are not the only things to expect this upcoming fall season. With the federal government’s fiscal year ending on September 30, the next few months are sure to be a busy time for federal procurement and, inevitably, bid protests. Protests related to federal government procurements have strict and short deadlines that carry harsh consequences if they are not met. The following discussion examines the protest deadlines for the various venues in which government contractors often find themselves . In this alert, we summarize the deadlines for small business procurement programs associated with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and for merit-based protests related to the issuance of a government solicitation or the award of a contract.   For procurements that are set aside under SBA’s programs, there are three key determinations that are often the subject of protests: size of the awardee, status of the awardee, and the North American Industr...

Even the most experienced employers are sure to have questions from time to time about the nation’s workplace safety agency – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). That’s where we come in. The Fisher Phillips Workplace Safety Practice Group has prepared this comprehensive series of FAQs to answer all of your questions – fully updated to keep up with changes to workplace safety laws. The document you have at your disposal covers all of the topics you’ll need to know about besides recordkeeping: employee complaints, agency inspections, agency citations, the process of challenging inspections, complaints and answers, discovery process, OSHRC hearings, post-hearing appeals, miscellaneous issues, and state OSHA plans. TABLE OF CONTENTS Recordkeeping Electronic Recordkeeping Rules Coverage for Electronic Recordkeeping Rule Recordkeeping Forms Employee Complaints Agency Inspections Agency Citations The Process of Challenging Citations Complaints and Answers The Di...