News and Updates
Category: Compliance
Supreme Court Reissues Stay on Vax-or-Test Requirement, Mandate Remains in Place for Most Healthcare Workers
OSHA announced on January 26 that they plan to withdraw the ETS, but that the rule would still be proposed as a permanent requirement. This comes just weeks after the Supreme Court reinstituted a stay of the OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) earlier this month, requiring large employers to require staff to be vaccinated or produce a weekly negative test. In their January 13th decision, the Supreme Court maintained that while COVID-19 exists as a risk in most workplaces, they do not view it as a strictly occupational hazard. The majority opinion states that targeted regulations may be permissible - citing workplaces that are particularly crowded or cramped, or laboratories that work directly with the virus for research purposes. In a separate opinion on January 13, the high court did allow CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) to require COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of healthcare facilities receiving federal funds from Medicare & Medicaid. OSHA initially published the ETS on November 5. A flurry of legal action followed from both private and public employers, and by November 12 - the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of the ETS (making the ETS invalid). To further complicate matters, the 6th Circuit voted 2-1 to reinstate the mandate on December 17. Some employers are choosing to create their own vaccine mandates, which should be handled carefully to avoid discrimination. If you have questio
Is Our Company Required To Train Employees in First Aid and CPR?
One question that our safety team gets across nearly all industries is, “Am I required to have my employees certified to perform first aid and CPR?” OSHA requires that in the absence of an infirmary, clinic, or hospital within near proximity to the workplace – one or more staff members should be adequately trained to provide first aid. While the standards do not specify exactly how close by, OSHA has long interpreted the term "near proximity" to mean that emergency care must be available within no more than 3-4 minutes from the workplace. One option these standards provide employers is to ensure that a member of the workforce has been trained in first aid. This option is a feasible and low-cost way to protect employees, as well as putting the employer clearly in compliance with the standards. OSHA recommends that every workplace include one or more employees who are trained and certified in first aid, including CPR. While AED training is not specifically addressed or required by the standard, including that in your CPR training is recommended. The team at Spooner Safety will now be offering first aid and CPR training to businesses that would like to certify members of their team as either a requirement or best practice. Please contact Jeremy Smith at 440-249-5696 | Ext: 154 for more
Have Questions About the Imminent Vaccine Mandate? So Do We.
Last month, President Biden directed OSHA to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that requires private employers with 100+ employees to ensure all employees are either vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or are able to produce a negative test each week. Employers (of any size) that are federal contractors or receive certain federal funding will also be expected to meet the employee vaccination requirements – without the option of a “test out.” We expect OSHA to issue an ETS in the near future, which will hopefully answer some of the questions surrounding this mandate. Until this summer’s COVID-related ETS for healthcare workers, OSHA had not successfully issued an Emergency Temporary Standard since the 1980s (pertaining to asbestos). Effective July 2021, the agency issued its first ETS in decades highlighting the need for healthcare employers to provide certain protection measures against COVID-19 for employees. By design, an ETS will remain in effect until a permanent rule is issued. Many details of how this is all expected to work have yet to be disclosed, which makes it very difficult for our team to provide the best possible guidance. In the meantime, we can direct you to the most helpful reference we’ve found thus far, which is an article published by the National Law Review. We encourage you to stay tuned to our blog, LinkedIn page and your outside counsel – things are changing rapidly and we’ll do our very bes
Updates to OSHAs Electronic Submission Requirements
Have you been submitting your 300A online? OSHA has required online submission of the 300A for a few years, and now they’re going to start ensuring companies have been submitting them during inspections. What does the rule require? The new rule, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2017, requires certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness data that they are already required to record on their onsite OSHA Injury and Illness forms. Analysis of this data will enable OSHA to use its enforcement and compliance assistance resources more efficiently. Some of the data will also be posted to the OSHA website. OSHA believes that public disclosure will encourage employers to improve workplace safety and provide valuable information to workers, job seekers, customers, researchers and the general public. Compliance schedule The new reporting requirements: • Establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation must submit information from their 2021 Form 300A by March 2, 2022. • Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain high-risk industries must submit information from their 2021 Form 300A by March 2, 2022. https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/ New Enforcement OSHA has set enforcement guidance regarding potential violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) rule requiring electronic submittal of i
Continued COVID Guidance: New OSHA ETS, FFCRA Update, Mask Mandates and Re-Entry following Travel
June 2021 OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard More guidance has been issued from OSHA, directed at healthcare industry employers such as hospitals, emergency responders, long term care, etc. The new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for Covid-19 went into effect June 10, 2021. You can find a great summary here that also includes a link to the flowchart on OSHA.gov. June 2021 COVID & FFCRA Update The FFCRA was mandatory for many employers until December 31 of 2020. The previous administration extended the paid leave provisions of the FFCRA through March 31, 2021 – however, the extension was no longer mandatory. If employers chose to provide paid leave benefits due to COVID, they were still eligible to receive the tax credit to offset the costs of paying employee leave. Additionally, President Biden extended the FFCRA provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) through September 30, 2021. Biden also added some new components of the paid leave, which include: • Additional reasons employees can take paid leave o Time spent in order to get the vaccine o Time from work missed due to complications from the vaccine • The 80 hour limit reset on April 1, 2021 o Meaning if an employee exhausted their Paid Sick Leave before Ma
Preparing for True Up Following an Unprecedented Year
Starting July 1st, 2020, the BWC reduced every employer’s payroll by 20%. They did so under the assumption that all employers experienced slow-downs, lay-offs and closures during the initial impact of COVID-19 on Ohio businesses. However, they did not confirm these reductions with policyholders – and we know that not all businesses experienced a decrease. This reduction might result in an unexpected True Up balance July. True Up is a process required by Ohio BWC at the end of each policy year, where your premiums based on projected payroll are balanced with premiums based on your actual payroll for the past year. Compliance with both the reporting and payment of any balances affects your company’s eligibility for most savings programs. If your actual payroll was higher than projected, you will be expected to pay that balance to Ohio BWC no later than August 15th. If you are unable to pay the lump sum at that time, please note that any future premium installments will first be applied to your delinquent True Up Balance before being applied to your premium installments. Payment plans for True Up balances are only available through the Ohio Attorney General’s office following an application process. With the final installments for the 2020-2021 policy year being billed any day now, it is unlikely that you have time to make adjustments prior to the end of the policy year on 6/30/21. However, you can run a mock True Up based on
How Solid Is Your HR Foundation?
Spooner's sister company, Surety HR has a staff of HR Professionals with the capabilities to provide a variety of solutions to any HR problem your company might be facing. While our PEO clients have these services embedded, they are available to all businesses. Some of the services we offer include: Handbook (policies and procedures) Compliance (I-9/EEOC/DOL/employee files) Disciplinary and termination guidance Harassment/bullying in workplace training Recruiting Job descriptions Employee performance evaluation Review hierarchy and comp structure Especially when it comes to issues of compliance, these are not things your company should leave to chance! A small investment now to get these things in place could potentially save you a fortune (and protect you from lawsuits) in the future. Please contact Todd Kereszturi for a free consultation. Todd can be reached at 440-249-5260 x132 or
OSHA and the New Administration
As a follow-up to our New Year safety advice from the last spotlight, there is already evidence that the new Administration is taking a more active role in Occupation Health and Safety. With new leadership at OSHA, there is already a new rule to update the Hazard Communication Standard, as well as updates to COVID-19 guidance for workplaces. We are encouraging all of our clients to review their OSHA Compliance, which should include all your written programs, sub-elements under those programs, and facility. When is the last time you updated your written Health and Safety programs? When was the last time you checked that all training is up to date and documented? When was the last time you completed all the requirements for LO/TO, Forklift, HazCom? When is the last time you completed a safety walk-through of your facility, with corrective action taken? Spooner's Safety professionals are available to conduct these program reviews for you, including facility compliance via "Mock OSHA" inspections. Our team can provide a full suite of training and a wide variety of occupational safety consulting services to help you comply with OSHA General Industry and Construction Regulations. Please email Jon Carpenter if you have any questions. Jon can be reached at
