News & Insights
OSHA Virus Citation Highlights Key Compliance Challenges
October 19, 2021
Law 360
Patrick Bickford recently wrote an article for Law 360 entitled "OSHA Virus Citation Highlights Key Compliance Challenges."
In October 2021, OSHA issued two Citations to a Fort Collins, Colorado, based insurance agency. The first Citation alleges a violation of the OSH Act’s “General Duty Clause”, finding that the insurance agency failed to furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards by “ignor[ing] coronavirus safety requirements and allow[ing] others displaying symptoms to work at the same Denver location where an employee died with COVID-19.”
The second Citation alleges that the insurance agency violated 29 C.F.R. § 1904.39(a)(1) for failing to report the death of a paralegal assistant with-in 8-hours. A critical component of the second Citation is that the paralegal assistant passed away due to COVID-19 and the death was a “work-related incident.”OSHA’s Citation in this instance raises several important questions for employers, including, when is a case of COVID-19 considered “work-related,” and under what circumstances is an employer required to report the death or in-patient hospitalization of such employees?
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