The subpoena was issued as part of OSHA’s investigation into the deaths of two teenage workers who were killed while working at the company’s grain elevator. The company was issued 25 citations and a $555,000 penalty by OSHA. OSHA also issued a subpoena to the company’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier for documents consisting of safety inspection reports, applications for insurance coverage, and correspondence between the insurer and the company. When the insurer refused to comply with the subpoena, OSHA brought suit in federal district court to enforce the subpoena. As the basis for its decision to uphold the subpoena, the district court stated that the documents “reasonably relate to the investigation of the incident and the question of OSHA jurisdiction.”

Since August 2010, OSHA’s Grain Safety Local Emphasis Program has conducted 61 site inspections and found 163 violations.

We encourage employers and workers to check out the new compliance assistance resources from the Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Employee Benefits Security Administration.  These resources will help secure safe and healthy workplaces and improve heath benefit and retirement security – both important goals of Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

More after the break.

NEW OSHA COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PRODUCTS
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued the following new or updated compliance assistance products.  (For a list of products published earlier this year, see our August email alert.)  For more information on these OSHA products, see the New Compliance Assistance Products page.  To order print copies of the publications, please visit OSHA’s Publications Web page.

eTools

• Hospital eTool:  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) module   

Safety and Health Topics Pages

• Nanotechnology
• Pandemic Influenza   

Other Web Pages

• Cooperative Programs 
•  Training Resources (updated Sep. 2009)

QuickCards

• Pandemic Influenza
  • How to Protect Yourself in the Workplace during a Pandemic (OSHA Publication 3365) (English and Spanish)
  • Pandemic Influenza: Respiratory Protection (OSHA Publication 3366) (English and Spanish)
• Protecting Worker Safety and Health Under the National Response Framework (OSHA Publication 3356)  

Fact Sheets

• Compliance Assistance 
•  Outreach Training Program 
• Pandemic Influenza:
  • What Employers Can Do to Protect Workers from Pandemic Influenza (English and Spanish)
  • Healthcare Workplaces Classified as Very High or High Exposure Risk for Pandemic Influenza (English and Spanish)
  • Respiratory Infection Control: Respirators Versus Surgical Masks (English and Spanish)
• Your Rights as a Whistleblower (Spanish translation)  

Posters

• Process Safety Management Depends on You! (OSHA Publication 3316)  

Publications and Guidance Documents

• Consultation Services (English and Spanish) (OSHA Publication 3357and 3372)
• Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic (English and Spanish) (OSHA Publications 3327 and 3364)
• Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts (OSHA Publication 3371)  

Safety and Health Information Bulletins

• Compactor Rollover Hazard – Spanish translation
• Hazards Associated with Operating Skid-Steer Loaders with Bypassed and/or Improperly Maintained Safety Devices –  Spanish translation
• Hazards of Using Flammable Liquids in Cutting Laminated Glass
• Special Purpose Particle Accelerators 
• Standup Forklift Under-ride Hazards  

NEW EBSA COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PRODUCTS
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced new guidance as featured below.  You can subscribe to EBSA’s web site homepage for updates.

Use of Summary Prospectus Requirements
On September 8, 2009 EBSA issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2009-03 describing the circumstances under which a participant-directed individual account plan may satisfy the prospectus delivery requirements of section 404(c) of ERISA by furnishing a “Summary Prospectus” pursuant to requirements established by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Under new SEC rules, the Summary Prospectus is a short-form document, written in plain English and user-friendly format.  The document’s contents provide a summary of key information about a mutual fund that is useful to participants and beneficiaries in evaluating and comparing their plan investment options.  In addition, if a participant or beneficiary wishes additional information, the Summary Prospectus provides an Internet address that leads directly to the broader statutory prospectus as well as a telephone number and email address for obtaining the statutory prospectus and other information free of charge in paper or by email.

The guidance provided by the FAB enables plans to take advantage of updated prospectus disclosure changes adopted by the SEC to improve investor disclosure materials.

403(b) Plans
On July 20, 2009 EBSA issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2009-02 providing guidance on certain Form 5500 requirements dealing with tax-sheltered annuity programs.

In 2007, EBSA made changes to annual reporting rules to, among other things, require that not-for-profit employers with Internal Revenue Code 403(b) retirement plans covered by ERISA comply, starting this year, with the same financial reporting rules that apply to 401(k) plans.

The FAB provides transition relief for plan administrators of 403(b) plans who make a good faith effort to comply with applicable annual reporting requirements for the 2009 plan year.  The FAB allows 403(b) plans to avoid the administrative burden and expense of having to collect and include in their 2009 Form 5500 financial report information on certain individual annuity contracts and mutual fund custodial accounts of current and former employees which were entered into before 2009 and for which the employer has no ongoing contribution obligation.

The FAB complements the transition relief issued by the IRS under new final regulations.

Getting Ready for the 2009 Form 5500 and Electronic Filing
EBSA is continuing to make filers and other plan officials aware of the upcoming changes to the Form 5500 and the filing process beginning with the 2009 plan year filings.  Information on the new EFAST2 system has been posted on the EFAST website.  The EFAST2 system will be will be available on January 1, 2010.  Also available are archives of the two webcasts EBSA has held.  Subscribe to EBSA’s homepage for notification of upcoming webcasts on the changes to filing the Form 5500.

Free Compliance Assistance Events
For dates and locations of free compliance assistance events sponsored by EBSA for both retirement and health benefit plans, visit EBSA’s homepage.

Visit us on the web at www.dol.gov/compliance.

“In this final rule, OSHA is requiring employers to pay for the PPE used to comply with OSHA standards, with a few exceptions.” 

“This rule does not set forth new requirements regarding the PPE that must be provided and the circumstances in which it must be provided. The rule merely requires employers to pay for the PPE that is used to comply with the Parts amended.”

Employers that require PPE should review this regulation to see whether they are now required to pay for the PPE.