Electricity has long been recognized as a serious workplace hazard and electrical construction is recognized as a high-risk trade. Electrocution results when a person is exposed to a lethal amount of electrical energy. Exposure to electricity can also cause burns, shocks, arc flash/arc blasts, fire, explosions, and falls. Damaged tools and equipment, contact with overhead power lines, wet conditions, overloaded circuits, exposed electrical parts, or improper grounding and wiring, can all expose workers to electrical hazards.

IEC aims to protect merit shop contractors exposed to electrical dangers in the workplace. Resources from OSHA and CPWR are valuable tools for understanding electrical hazards and how to work safely. Visit the IEC Focus Four Hazards page for more information on preventing electrical injuries.

Reminder: Electronic Submission of OSHA Form 300A Data

OSHA is reminding employers to submit their 2022 OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) data by March 2, 2023.

Who is required to submit Form 300A data?

  1. Establishments with 250+ employees are required to keep OSHA injury and illness records.
  2. Establishments with 20-249 employees in designated industries.
  3. Establishments under Federal OSHA jurisdiction can use the ITA Coverage Application to determine if they are required to electronically report their injury and illness information to OSHA. Establishments under State Plan jurisdiction should contact their State Plan.

How to submit Form 300A data:

As part of the Department of Labor’s IT modernization and security enhancement efforts, the Injury Tracking Application transitioned its login procedure to Login.gov — a secure sign-in service used by many government agencies. Current and new account holders need to create a Login.gov account to submit their 2022 injury and illness data. Detailed guidance on how to carry out this change is available as a job aid and video. If you have questions, visit the FAQs webpage.

OSHA’s Monetary Penalties 

Effective January 16, 2023, OSHA’s monetary penalties will increase due to inflation. You can view the notice and penalties here.

OSHA Issues New Enforcement Guidance Penalties for Employers 

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued new enforcement guidance to make its penalties more effective in stopping employers from repeatedly exposing workers to life-threatening hazards or failing to comply with certain workplace safety and health requirements.

OSHA Regional Administrators and Area Office Directors now have the authority to cite certain types of violations as “instance-by-instance citations” for cases where the agency identifies “high-gravity” serious violations of OSHA standards specific to certain conditions where the language of the rule supports a citation for each instance of non-compliance. These conditions include lockout/tagout, machine guarding, permit-required confined space, respiratory protection, falls, trenching and for cases with other-than-serious violations specific to recordkeeping. Read more here.

OSHA’s Field Operations Manual

Read the Field Operations Manual which outlines everything that occurs during an OSHA inspection.