Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook Second Edition

authors

Melissa A. Bailey Margaret S. Lopez Eric J. Conn Marshall Lee Miller Frank D. Davis John B. O’Loughlin, Jr. William K. Doran Arthur G. Sapper Katie A. Duggin Rachel Schaffer John B. Flood Francina M. Segbefia Lauren Handel Kenneth B. Siepman Michael T. Heenan

of:

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. McDermott Will & Emery LLP Baise & Miller, P.C. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP

Government Institutes An imprint of

The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK

2008

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Published in the United States of America by Government Institutes, an imprint of The Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://govinst.scarecrowpress.com

Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom

Copyright © 2008 by Government Institutes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The reader should not rely on this publication to address specific questions that apply to a particular set of facts. The author and the publisher make no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the completeness, correctness, or utility of the information in this publication. In addition, the author and the publisher assume no liability of any kind whatsoever resulting from the use of or reliance upon the contents of this book.

� ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.

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Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook Second Edition

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Summary Contents

Chapter 1 Occupational Safety and Health Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Marshall Lee Miller

Chapter 2 OSHA: The Rulemaking Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Margaret S. Lopez and Francina M. Segbefia

Chapter 3 The Duty to Comply with Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Arthur G. Sapper

Chapter 4 The General Duty Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

William K. Doran and Katie A. Duggin

Chapter 5 Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Melissa A. Bailey

Chapter 6 Employers’ and Employees’ Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

John B. O’Loughlin, Jr.

Chapter 7 Refusal to Work and Whistleblower Protection . . . . 155

Kenneth B. Siepman

Chapter 8 Hazard Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

John B. Flood

Chapter 9 Voluntary Safety and Health Self-Audits . . . . . . . . . 191

Michael T. Heenan and Margaret S. Lopez

Chapter 10 Inspections and Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Eric J. Conn

Chapter 11 Understanding and Contesting OSHA Citations . . . 221

Lauren Handel

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Chapter 12 Criminal Enforcement of Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Marshall Lee Miller

Chapter 13 Judicial Review of Enforcement Actions . . . . . . . . 251

John B. O’Loughlin, Jr.

Chapter 14 Imminent Danger Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Frank D. Davis

Chapter 15 OSHA-Approved State Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Rachel Schaffer

Appendix: Occupational Safety and Health Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

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Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi

Chapter 1 Occupational Safety and Health Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Comparison of OSHA and EPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 OSHA, the Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.0 Legislative Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Purpose of the Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Coverage of the Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Exemptions from the Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Telecommuting and Home Workplaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.0 Scope of OSHA Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Areas Covered by the OSHA Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Overview of Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Overview of Health Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Overview of Safety Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4.0 Standard Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Consensus Standards: Section 6(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Standards Completion and Deletion Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Permanent Standards: Section 6(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Emergency Temporary Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 General Duty Clause, 5(a)(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Feasibility and the Balancing Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

5.0 Variances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Temporary Variances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Permanent Variances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6.0 Compliance and Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Field Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Role of Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Training and Competence of Inspectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Citations, Fines, and Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 OSHA Citation and Penalty Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Communicating and Enforcing Company Rules . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Warrantless Inspections: The Barlow Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

7.0 Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Accident Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Monitoring and Medical Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

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Hazard Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Access to Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Programmatic Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

8.0 Refusal to Work and Whistle-blowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Refusal to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Protection of Whistle-blowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

9.0 Federal and State Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 State Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

10.0 State OSHA Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Critiques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

11.0 Consultation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

12.0 Overlapping Jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

13.0 Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission . . . . . . . 37 OSHRC Appeal Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Limitations of the Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

14.0 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health . . . . . . 39 In Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 In Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

15.0 Hazard Communication Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Reason for the Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Scope and Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Hazard Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Trade Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Federal Preemption Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

16.0 Ergonomics Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Scope of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Scope of the Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

17.0 Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 2 The Rulemaking Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

2.0 The Rulemaking Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Petitions for Rulemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 NIOSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Advisory Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

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NACOSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FACOSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health . . . . 52 Identifying Potential Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Request for Information and Advanced Notice of

Rulemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Hearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The Final Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

3.0 Negotiated Rulemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4.0 Other Applicable Statutes Concerning Rulemaking . . . . . . . . . 56

5.0 Delays in Rulemaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

6.0 Emergency Temporary Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

7.0 Variances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Temporary Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Permanent Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Interim Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

8.0 State Law Standards/Jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 State Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

9.0 Judicial Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Chapter 3 The Duty to Comply with Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

2.0 Applicability of OSHA Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The General Principle of Preemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Special Applicability Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

3.0 General Principles of the Duty to Comply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 The Exposure Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 To Whose Employee Does the Duty Run? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Multi-Employer Worksite Liability Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 General Construction Contractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Legal Status of the Multi-Employer Liability Rules . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Nonconstruction Applications of the

Multi-Employer Liability Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Multi-Employer Worksite Defense Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4.0 Actual or Constructive Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

5.0 Additional Elements That OSHA Must Sometimes Prove . . . . . 73

6.0 The Employer’s Substantive Affirmative Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Infeasibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

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The Infeasibility Element of the Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 The Alternative Measures Element of the

Infeasibility Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 The Greater Hazard Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Unpreventable Employee Misconduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Invalidity of the Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Violation of Statutory Procedural Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Violation of Constitutional Requirement of

Fair Notice of Standard’s Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 De Minimis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Chapter 4 The General Duty Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

2.0 Who Is Protected by the General Duty Clause? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

3.0 The Existence of a Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

4.0 Recognized Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Industry Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Employer Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Obvious Hazard Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

5.0 Causing or Likely to Cause Death or Serious Physical Harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

6.0 Feasible Measures to Correct the Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

7.0 Practical Enforcement of the General Duty Clause . . . . . . . . . . 97

8.0 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Chapter 5 Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

2.0 Statutory Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

3.0 Injury and Illness Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 History of the Recordkeeping Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 OSHA’s Authority for Requiring Employers to

Keep Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Identifying Injuries and Illnesses that Must be Recorded . . . . 104 Determining Whether an Injury or Illness Has Occurred . . . 105 Defining “Work-Related”: The Geographic Presumption . . . . 105 Preexisting Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The Employer’s Obligation to Determine

Work-Relatedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Exceptions to Work-Relatedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

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Injuries or Illnesses that Occur While Traveling . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Injuries and Illnesses Resulting from Work at Home . . . . . . . 112 New Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Recording Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Special Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Hearing Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Needlestick Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Medical Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Tuberculosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Recordkeeping Forms and Retention Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Employee Involvement and Access to Records . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Privacy Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Reporting Injuries and Fatalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Exemptions from Recordkeeping Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 129

4.0 OSHA Standards Requiring Written Documents . . . . . . . . . . 130 Safety Standard Recordkeeping Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 The Health Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 The Typical Health Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Health Standards Applicable to General Industry . . . . . . . . . . 135 Health Communication and Bloodborne Pathogens . . . . . . . 136 Hazard Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Bloodborne Pathogens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 The Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records

Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

5.0 Using Records to Prove Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Chapter 6 Employers’ and Employees’ Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

2.0 Employers’ Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Inspections and Warrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Challenging Citations and Civil Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Judicial Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Participation in Rulemakings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Protection of Trade Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

3.0 Employees’ Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Refusal to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Protection from Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Participation in Inspections and Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Access to Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

4.0 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

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Chapter 7 Refusal to Work and Whistleblower Protection . . . . 155

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

2.0 Refusal to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Federal Statutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Occupational Safety and Health Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Enforcing Rights under OSHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Secretary’s Burden in Litigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Burden Shifting Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 National Labor Relations Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Protection under Section 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Comparison of Section 7 and Section 502 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Cooperation between OSHA and the NLRB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Arbitration and Collective Bargaining Agreements . . . . . . . . . 161 Collective Bargaining Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Arbitration not under a Collective Bargaining Agreement . . . . . 162 Deferral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 State Statutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Common Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

3.0 Whistleblowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Federal Statutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Occupational Safety and Health Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Preemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 State Statutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Common Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

4.0 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Chapter 8 Hazard Communication: Moving toward a Globally Harmonized System in the 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

2.0 The Hazard Communication Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Key Purpose and Scope of Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Key Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Material Safety Data Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Training and Information for Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Hazard Communication Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

3.0 Continued Problems with the HCS as the Impetus for Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

4.0 The Global Harmonization System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Overview of the GHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

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Scope of Potential Changes under the GHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 When Will GHS Be Implemented and

Key Areas of Concern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

5.0 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Chapter 9 Voluntary Safety and Health Self-Audits . . . . . . . . . 191

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

2.0 The Significance of Voluntary Safety and Health Auditing . . . 192 Overview of Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 The Audit Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Scope of the Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Audit Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Auditing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Take Steps to Protect Confidentiality of

Audit Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Be Prepared to Promptly Respond to Every Hazard

Identified in the Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Document Every Significant Step Taken to Respond to

Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Do Not Censor the Auditors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Attribute Appropriate Gravity to Audit Findings and

Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

3.0 OSHA’s Voluntary Self-Audit Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Use of Self-Audits in Agency Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 No Citation for Corrected Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Protection from Use of Self-Audits to Show Willfulness . . . . . 198 Penalty Reduction for Good Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Critique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 “Routine” Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Use of Audit Information to Supplement Other

Evidence Already Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Penalty Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

4.0 Privileges and Protections from Disclosure of Audit Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 The Self-Audit Privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 The Common Law Audit Privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 General Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Factors Used in Determining Whether to Apply the

Privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

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Other Limitations in Application of the Audit Privilege . . . . . . . 202 Statutory Audit Privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 The Attorney/Client Privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Attorney Work Product Doctrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

5.0 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Chapter 10 Inspections and Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

2.0 Types of Inspections and Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Imminent Danger Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Accident and Fatality Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Complaint or Referral Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Routine, Scheduled, or Programmed Inspections . . . . . . . . . . 209

3.0 OSHA’s Inspection and Investigation Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 OSHA’s Right to Inspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 No Advance Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Warrant Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Exceptions to Warrant Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Interviews, Documents, and Subpoenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Audio and Video Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Monitoring Devices on Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

4.0 Employers’ Constitutional and Statutory Rights . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Challenging a Warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Right to Accompany Inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Employer and Employee Interview Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Challenging the Conduct of the Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

5.0 Stages of OSHA Inspections and Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Presentation of Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Opening Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Walk Around Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Closing Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Chapter 11 Understanding and Contesting OSHA Citations . . . 221

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

2.0 Why Should an Employer Contest a Citation? . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Abatement Costs Can Be Significant and Long Term . . . . . . 222 Uncontested Citations Can Result in “Repeated”

Violations Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Citations Can Be Used Against an Employer in

Tort Litigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

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Citations Can Interfere with Business Opportunities and Damage Reputations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

3.0 Procedural Requirements for Issuance of a Citation . . . . . . . . 224 OSHA’s Time to Issue a Citation Is Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 OSHA Must Adequately Describe the Violation . . . . . . . . . . 224

4.0 The Elements of OSHA Citations: What Can Be Contested? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 The Alleged Violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 “Willful” Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 “Repeated” Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 “Serious” Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 “Other-than-Serious” Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 “De Minimis” Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 The Penalty Amount and Characterization of Violation . . . . 228 Factors Considered by OSHA in Calculating Proposed

Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Gravity of the Violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Size of the Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Good Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Violation History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Multiplied Penalties for “Egregious” Violations . . . . . . . . . . . 230 The Abatement Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

5.0 Contesting OSHA Citations: From Notice of Contest to Judicial Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 The Notice of Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Fifteen Working Day Contest Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Essential Contents of the Notice of Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Review by an Administrative Law Judge of the Review

Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Rules of Procedure and Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Pre-Hearing Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Hearing Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Post-Hearing Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Simplified Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Review by the Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Interlocutory Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Appellate-Type Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Judicial Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

6.0 Resolving Citations through Settlement with OSHA . . . . . . . 239 Pre-Citation Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Informal Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Formal Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

7.0 Employee Participation in Challenges to Citations . . . . . . . . . 240

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Chapter 12 Criminal Enforcement of Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

2.0 Federal Prosecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Definition of “Employee” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Willful Violations Causing Death to Employee . . . . . . . . . . . 245 False Statements and Advance Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

3.0 State Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

4.0 Prosecution under Environmental Statutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

5.0 Recent Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Chapter 13 Judicial Review of Enforcement Actions . . . . . . . . 251

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

2.0 Jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Parties Who Have Standing to Bring an Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Courts That Have Jurisdiction over Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

3.0 Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Final Commission Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Constitutional Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

4.0 Scope of Judicial Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Procedural Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Standard of Review for Conclusions of Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Standard of Review for Findings of Fact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Precedential Effect of Judicial Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

5.0 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Chapter 14 Imminent Danger Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

2.0 Imminent Danger Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

3.0 Nuts and Bolts of an Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

4.0 The On-Site Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

5.0 Employee Representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

6.0 Opening Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

7.0 The Walk Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

8.0 Notices of Imminent Danger and Temporary Restraining Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

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9.0 Closing Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

10.0 Citations and Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

11.0 Abatement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

12.0 MSHA Imminent Danger Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

13.0 Employee Rights and Labor Unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

14.0 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Chapter 15 OSHA-Approved State Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

1.0 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

2.0 Establishing State Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Developmental Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Probationary Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Rejection and Withdrawal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

3.0 Preemption Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

4.0 Approved State Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Appendix: Occupational Safety and Health Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

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Preface

Nothing in the workplace is more important than employee safety and health. Good safety and health conditions and practices are maintained by the dedica- tion of all employees with the help of supervisors, management, and safety pro- fessionals.

A major component of safety and health management is compliance with the regulations and standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the U.S. Department of Labor. This handbook provides impor- tant information regarding legal requirements and compliance responsibilities re- lated to OSHA enforcement of safety and health requirements under the Occu- pational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

All the authors of the handbook are experienced in occupational safety and health law. All are able to bring unique insights to the issues addressed. Together they provide in this handbook a comprehensive analysis of the issues that arise under federal and state OSHA programs.

The handbook begins with a review of the basic requirements of law, who is covered, who is not, how safety and health standards are developed, how affected parties may participate, and how variances may sometimes be obtained when fi- nal standards conflict with other safety considerations at particular employment locations.

The mechanism and details of enforcement are reviewed in the handbook, including those pertaining to jurisdiction, inspections, the authority of inspec- tors, citations, and monetary penalties. The implications of specific standards and the General Duty Clause established in the Occupational Safety and Health Act are analyzed. Criminal law enforcement is also addressed.

Rights of employers and employees are detailed and explained. These include rights to contest enforcement actions by the enforcing agency and protection of employees against unlawful discrimination related to protected safety activity. Employee rights to know and employer recordkeeping and reporting obligations are also explained.

All of these subjects are of critical importance to employers and employees. It is hoped that the users of this handbook will find themselves greatly aided in ensuring good safety and health compliance and as well as fair and even-handed enforcement by authorities.

Margaret S. Lopez Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

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Melissa A. Bailey

Melissa Bailey has an extensive background in govern- ment relations and labor and employment law, including substantial litigation experience in occupational safety and health matters. Ms. Bailey provides counseling and litigates occupational safety and health cases before federal agencies and courts, represents clients in government in- spections and investigations, and performs audits and compliance counseling. Ms. Bailey represents employers in a wide range of industries, including chemical, manu- facturing, mining, construction, automotive, health and hospitality services. Ms. Bailey advises employers and trade associations about strategies to minimize liability during government inspections, and she assists employers in developing effective compliance plans.

About the Authors

E-mail melissa.bailey@ ogletreedeakins.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

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E-mail econn@mwe.com

Web site www.mwe.com

Frank D. Davis

Frank Davis represents management exclusively in the area of labor and employment law throughout the United States. His extensive experience includes the handling of representation proceedings before the National Labor Re- lations Board, labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, union campaigns, employment contracts, dis- crimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour com- pliance, leave issues, and workplace safety. Mr. Davis also has obtained summary judgments or dismissals on behalf of clients in dozens of cases filed in state and federal courts.

E-mail frank.davis@ ogletreedeakins.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

Eric J. Conn

Eric J. Conn is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. As a member of the OSHA, MSHA & Catastrophe Response Practice Group, Mr. Conn focuses his practice on workplace safety and health law and has extensive experience defending em- ployers after catastrophic industrial and construction workplace accidents, such as refinery explosions, con- struction collapses, chemical releases, and airline acci- dents. Mr. Conn also represents clients during inspections and investigations by various state and federal agencies, including OSHA, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Mine Safety and Health Adminis- tration (MSHA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mr. Conn is a contributing editor to Oc- cupational Hazards Magazine and has published articles in the field of OSHA law. Mr. Conn earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School in 2000.

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About the Authors ❖ xxiii

William K. Doran

William Doran’s practice is concentrated in safety and health law, labor law, employment law, and litigation. Mr. Doran represents and advises companies with respect to issues arising under federal and state safety and health statutes. Mr. Doran represents companies in accident in- vestigations, special investigations, audits, and discrimina- tion investigations conducted by OSHA, MSHA, and state agencies. He represents companies in litigation be- fore the Occupational Safety and Health Review Com- mission, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and the federal courts. He also represents companies and trade associations on local and national is- sues within the purview of federal agency administrators.

E-mail william.doran@ ogletreedeakins.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

Katie A. Duggin

Katie Duggin is an associate in Ogletree, Deakins’ Wash- ington, D.C., office, where her practice is concentrated in workplace safety and employment law. Ms. Duggin re- ceived her J.D. in 2005 from the Georgetown University Law Center. Throughout law school, she worked in the human resources field, which led her to labor and em- ployment Law. Ms. Duggin also served as an instructor in Georgetown’s Street Law Community clinical program.

E-mail katie.duggin@ ogletreedeakins.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

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John B. Flood

John B. Flood is an experienced litigator who practices in the areas of safety and health law and employment litiga- tion. Mr. Flood represents clients in litigation before the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Occupa- tional Safety and Health Administration, as well as in fed- eral and state courts at the trial and appellate levels. He represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including defense contracting, mining, real estate, and retail sales.

Mr. Flood obtained a J.D. in 1993 from Oklahoma City University School of Law, and an LL.M. in 2002 from Georgetown University in labor and employment law.

xxiv ❖ Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook

E-mail John.Flood@odnss.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

Lauren Handel

Lauren Handel is an associate in McDermott Will & Emery LLP’s New York office. Ms. Handel represents clients primarily in environmental and toxic tort litiga- tion. She also counsels clients on compliance with federal, state, and local environmental and workplace safety regu- lations and represents clients in all aspects of environ- mental agency and OSHA enforcement actions. Ms. Handel earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002.

E-mail lhandel@mwe.com

Web site www.mwe.com

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Michael T. Heenan

Michael T. Heenan’s law practice focuses on governmen- tal investigations, inspections, audits, and related litiga- tion, particularly with respect to mine safety and occupa- tional safety and health. He counsels companies on preventing problems in the workplace. He represents management in federal and state accident investigations and special investigations into possible violations of fed- eral or state civil and criminal laws. He also represents companies in litigation related to governmental enforce- ment actions.

About the Authors ❖ xxv

E-mail michael.heenan@ ogletreedeakins.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

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Margaret S. Lopez

Margaret S. Lopez is a Shareholder in the Washington, D.C., office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart, P.C. Her practice is concentrated in occupational safety and health, employment law, and nonprofit associ- ation law. Ms. Lopez regularly advises companies on fed- eral safety and health regulatory matters, including leg- islative, regulatory, and compliance issues arising under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. Ms. Lopez represents com- panies in litigation challenging enforcement action taken by OSHA and MSHA and assists companies in agency in- vestigations. Ms. Lopez also represents employers in cases in state and federal district and appellate courts on a wide variety of workplace safety and employment matters. Ms. Lopez is a frequent speaker and writer on occupational safety and health topics. Among her publications are “Ap- plication of the Audit Privilege to Occupational Safety and Health Audits: Lessons Learned from Environmental Audits” in the Journal of Natural Resources and Environ- mental Law (12 J. Nat. Resources & Envtl. L. 211 [1996–1997]), “Self-Audits” in Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook 197 (Government Institutes ed., 2001), and MSHA’s Excessive History Policy: Avoiding the Civil Penalty Quagmire (2003).

xxvi ❖ Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook

E-mail margo.lopez@ ogletreedeakins.com

Web site www.ogletreedeakins .com

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Marshall Lee Miller

Marshall Miller is a partner in the Washington, D.C., of- fice of the law firm Baise & Miller, where he specializes in the areas of environmental law, occupational health and safety, and international transactions. Mr. Miller was pre- viously special assistant to the first administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, chief EPA judi- cial officer, associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice, and deputy administrator and act- ing head of the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis- tration. He was educated at Harvard, Oxford, Heidelberg, and Yale.

About the Authors ❖ xxvii

E-mail miller@baisemiller.com

John B. O’Loughlin, Jr.

John B. O’Loughlin, Jr., is counsel with the Washington, D.C., office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Mr. O’Loughlin’s practice covers a wide range of environmen- tal, safety, and health matters. He advises clients on envi- ronmental, safety, and health regulatory requirements and represents corporations

TCEQ REGULATORY GUIDANCE Small Business and Environmental Assistance Division RG-404 ● February 2011

T E XA S C O MMIS SI O N O N EN V I RO N ME N TA L Q UA LI TY • P O BO X 1 3 0 8 7 • A U ST I N, T X 7 8 7 1 1 – 3 0 8 7 T h e T C E Q i s a n e q u a l o p p o r t u n i t y e m p l o y e r . T h e a g e n c y d o e s n o t a l l o w d i s c r i m i n a t i o n o n t h e b a s i s o f r a c e , c o l o r , r e l i g i o n , n a t i o n a l o r i g i n , s e x , d i s a b i l i t y , a g e , s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n , o r v e t e r a n s t a t u s . I n c o m p l i a n c e w i t h t h e A m e r i c a n s w i t h D i s a b i l i t i e s A c t , t h i s d o c u m e n t m a y b e r e q u e s t e d i n a l t e r n a t e f o r m a t s b y c o n t a c t i n g t h e T C E Q a t 5 1 2 – 2 3 9 – 0 0 2 8 , f a x 5 1 2 – 2 3 9 – 4 4 8 8 , o r 1 – 8 0 0 – R E L A Y – T X ( T D D ) , o r b y w r i t i n g P O B o x 1 3 0 8 7 , A u s t i n T X 7 8 7 1 1 – 3 0 8 7 . W e a u t h o r i z e y o u t o u s e o r r e p r o d u c e a n y o r i g i n a l m a t e r i a l c o n t a i n e d i n t h i s p u b l i c a t i o n — t h a t i s , a n y m a t e r i a l w e d i d n o t o b t a i n f r o m o t h e r s o u r c e s . P l e a s e a c k n o w l e d g e t h e T C E Q a s y o u r s o u r c e . P r i n t e d o n r e c y c l e d p a p e r .

Surface Coating Facilities A Guide for Obtaining Air Authorization in Texas

Contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2

Which Air Authorization Applies to You? ………………………………………………………………………………….. 2 De Minimis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2 Permit by Rule …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 New Source Review Permit………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Title V Federal Operating Permit……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7

Other Requirements ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 General Air Quality Rules (30 TAC 101) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 Nonattainment and Near-Nonattainment Areas (30 TAC 115) ……………………………………………………………….. 9 New Source Performance Standards (40 CFR, Part 60) ………………………………………………………………………. 10 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (40 CFR, Part 63) ………………………………………. 10

Common Air Violations for Surface Coaters ……………………………………………………………………………. 11

For More Information …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 11

Appendix A: Common Permits by Rule for Surface Coating Facilities …………………………………. 12

Appendix B: Surface Coating Permit by Rule (30 TAC 106.433) ………………………………………….. 13

Appendix C: Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and Exempt Solvent Content per Gallon of Coating ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16

Appendix D: Calculating Maximum Hourly and Annual Emission Rates …………………………….. 20

Appendix E: Emission Rate Averaged Over a Five-Hour Period …………………………………………… 24

Appendix F: Potential to Emit ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 25

Appendix G: Calculation of Booth or Work-Area and Filter and Face Velocities ……………….. 26

Appendix H: VOC Content Minus Water and Exempt Solvents …………………………………………….. 30

Appendix I: Calculations for Emissions of Products of Combustion from Heaters and Ovens ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 33

Appendix J: Examples of Acceptable Stack Designs ……………………………………………………………….. 35

Appendix K: Compliance Worksheet ………………………………………………………………………………………… 36

TCEQ publication RG-404 Surface Coating Facilities: A Guide for Obtaining Air Authorization in Texas

2 Revised March 2011

Introduction This document is tailored to the surface coating industry, excluding auto body shops, and contains general information about air regulations. Surface coaters prepare and coat (paint) items that may be made out of metal, wood, plastic, porcelain, or any of several other materials. Processes associated with cleaning and coating emit air contaminants. As part of its role in protecting public health and the environment, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requires you to get proper air authorization for these emissions. Under the law, you are required to obtain authorization before you build, modify, or begin operations at your facility.

Even if your site is already in operation, you still need an air authorization. You should begin steps to obtain authorization as soon as you become aware that this regulation applies to you. For more information on how to proceed if you find yourself in this situation, call the Small Business and Local Government Assistance (SBLGA) program at 800-447-2827 for confidential assistance. You can also contact the Air Permits Division at 512-239-1250 for technical assistance.

Which Air Authorization Applies to You? The type of authorization you qualify for will depend on the materials and chemicals you use, the processes that you conduct, and the amount of air contaminants your facility creates. In Texas, you have three options for obtaining authorization to emit air contaminants from your surface coating facility. You must either

• qualify for de minimis status, or • obtain authorization through a

 permit by rule (PBR), or  New Source Review (NSR) permit.

In addition, you may be required to obtain coverage under a Title V Federal Operating Permit if your emissions exceed certain levels. Ultimately, you must decide which type of authorization applies to your business and if it needs to meet any other requirements to comply with state and federal laws.

De Minimis

De minimis sites emit very small amounts of air contaminants. If your site qualifies as de minimis, you do not need to register with the TCEQ. However, you do need to keep records to prove that you meet the de minimis requirements. Even if your site is de minimis, you may have to comply with other state and federal regulations—see “Other Requirements,” on page 8. The rules that explain the de minimis criteria appear at 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 116, Subchapter B, Division 1, Section 116.119.

There are several ways that you can meet the de minimis criteria. To find out whether you can claim de minimis status:

• Check the De Minimis Facilities or Sources List [30 TAC 116.119(a)(1)].

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Any facility on the De Minimis Facilities or Sources List is considered de minimis by the TCEQ. This list is available online at <www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/de_minimis>.

• Check the Materials and Usage List [30 TAC 116.119(a)(2)(A–F)]. If the total, site-wide use per year of the following materials is below the thresholds listed, the site is considered de minimis:

• cleaning and stripping solvents, 50 gallons per year • coatings (excluding plating materials), 100 gallons per year • dyes, 1,000 pounds per year • bleaches, 1,000 gallons per year • fragrances (excluding odorants), 250 gallons per year • water-based surfactants and detergents, 2,500 gallons per year.

• Review Your Emission Rates and Check the Effects Screening level (ESL) List or Ask for a Case-by-Case Review. There are two additional ways that you can claim de minimis status. You can review the ESL list and emission rate caps [30 TAC 116.119(a)(3)] or ask for a case-by-case review [30 TAC 116.119(a)(4)]. For more information on these options, contact the Air Permits Division at 512-239-1250.

De minimis sites cannot be in violation of any TCEQ rule, permit, order, or statute. If a business is found to be in violation, it will no longer be considered de minimis and must obtain authorization through a PBR or an NSR permit.

Permit by Rule

Many surface coaters obtain authorization by qualifying for a PBR. PBRs have specific, non-negotiable conditions that your business must meet. PBRs are approved more quickly than NSR permits and less documentation is required for approval. It is important that you keep accurate records and documents to verify that you continually meet the conditions of your PBR.

In addition, more than one PBR may apply to your site. For example, you might sandblast an object and then paint it. You would need to obtain authorization under the PBRs both for dry abrasive cleaning and for surface coating. You can find more on surface preparation at the SBLGA’s website, <www.TexasEnviroHelp.org>.

Review 30 TAC Chapter 106 to find all appropriate PBRs that may be applicable to your site. The most common PBRs for surface coating facilities are listed in Appendix A.

Who Can Register Under a PBR?

General Requirements (30 TAC 106.4)

Facilities that are sources of air contaminants may claim a PBR as long as they can meet the general requirements and emission limits in 30 TAC Chapter 106, Subchapter A, Section 106.4 and meet the specific requirements for the PBR that they are claiming. You will need to calculate your air emissions to determine if you meet the conditions

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of a PBR. If you need help with these calculations, review Appendixes C through E. If you use heaters or ovens at your facility, you can reference Appendix I for help determining the emissions from those activities. You can also use the compliance worksheet in Appendix K to help you gather all of the information you will need to get started.

The general air emission limits, explained in 30 TAC Chapter 106, Subchapter A, Section 106.4, are:

• No more than 25 tons per year (sitewide) of: • volatile organic compounds (VOCs), • sulfur dioxide (SO2), • particulate matter (PM10) that is small enough to be inhaled, or • any other air contaminant (including exempt solvents)—except carbon

dioxide, water, nitrogen, methane, ethane, hydrogen, and oxygen. • No more than 250 tons per year (sitewide) of:

• carbon monoxide (CO), or • nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Overview of Requirements for Surface Coating Facilities (30 TAC 106.433)

The PBR for surface coating facilities, found in 30 TAC Chapter 106, Subchapter S, Section 106.433, has more stringent emission limits and requirements than the general requirements in 30 TAC Chapter 106, Subchapter A, Section 106.4. It is important to note that this PBR covers the use of coatings that contain metal pigments, but does not cover the application of molten metals.

The facility must maintain good housekeeping practices, clean up spills promptly, use exhaust fans when in operation, and properly store and dispose of new and used coatings and solvents. If you use ovens to dry or cure paint at your facility, you must either use an electric oven or ensure that the maximum heat input does not exceed 40 million British thermal units per hour. The rule also specifies the appropriate type of fuel that may be used for these ovens.

The specific air emission limits for surface coating operations performed indoors, in a booth, or in an enclosed work area, as explained in 30 TAC 106.433(6), are no more than:

• 6 pounds of VOCs per hour, averaged over a five-hour period (see Appendix E for help with this calculation), and

• 500 pounds of VOCs per week per booth or enclosed work area.

• You must ensure that your VOC emissions do not exceed 13 tons of VOCs per year per booth or enclosed work area. This value comes from the following equation:

500 𝑙𝑏 𝑉𝑂𝐶 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘

× 52 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠

𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 ×

1 𝑡𝑜𝑛 2,000 𝑙𝑏

= 13 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑉𝑂𝐶

𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

In addition to the emission limits, enclosed operations must ensure that:

TCEQ publication RG-404 Surface Coating Facilities: A Guide for Obtaining Air Authorization in Texas

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• all exhaust stacks extend at least 1.5 times the building height above the ground. (See Appendix J for more on stack design.)

• there is a minimum face velocity of 100 feet per minute (ft/min) at the intake opening of each booth or work area,

• the filter velocity does not exceed 250 ft/min. (See Appendix G for face velocity and filter velocity calculation.)

• the emissions of particulate matter from spraying operations are controlled by either a wash-water system or a dry filter system with a 95 percent removal efficiency.

Surface coating operations performed outdoors or in a non-enclosed work area must comply with the same VOC emission limits as enclosed operations (6 lb/hr and 500 lb/week). The VOC limits may be more stringent if the operation sprays coatings with metallic pigments containing chromates, lead, cadmium, selenium, strontium, or cobalt. Review 30 TAC 106.433(7)(B) if this applies to your business. Outdoor spray operations must also ensure that:

• all coating operations are conducted at least 50 feet from the property line and 250 feet from the nearest off-property structure, and that

• the TCEQ has given written site approval before construction.

The site-wide limits from coating and cleanup solvents, explained in 30 TAC 106.433(4), apply to both indoor and outdoor operations. All facilities must ensure that their site-wide emissions are no more than:

• 25 tons per year of VOC and 10 tons per year of exempt solvents, and

• 30 pounds per hour of VOC and 5.0 pounds per hour of exempt solvents.

Exempt solvents, such as acetone and methylene chloride, are defined as those carbon compounds or mixtures of carbon compounds used as solvents that have been excluded from the definition of VOC. The definition of VOC can be found in 40 CFR, Part 51.100.

This is an overview of the rule requirements. You must thoroughly review the PBR, 30 TAC 106.433, to make certain that you understand and comply with all of the emission limits, record-keeping responsibilities, and notification requirements. We have included a copy of the rule in Appendix B for your convenience. If you begin approaching the limits in the PBR, contact the Air Permits Division at 512-239-1250 to discuss your permitting options.

How Do I Obtain Coverage Under a PBR?

Some of the PBRs, including 30 TAC 106.433, require you to register with the TCEQ, while others require no registration. Registration requirements are specified in the rule. If any PBR requires registration, follow these general procedures:

1. Make sure your facility meets the general requirements for claiming the PBRs found in 30 TAC Chapter 106, Subchapter A, Section 106.4. You can complete the PBR Applicability Quick Checklist, Form TCEQ-10150 to help you determine if you

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meet the requirements. The appendixes to this publication will help you with the calculations you will need to complete in order to determine compliance.

2. Make sure your facility meets the conditions of any PBR you intend to claim. Be sure to read the PBR(s) in 30 TAC Chapter 106 before you make this determination. If registration checklists are available for the PBRs you are claiming, it is recommended that you use the checklists to demonstrate compliance with the rule. See Appendix A for registration checklist form numbers.

3. Complete Form TCEQ-10228, “Registration for Permits by Rule (PI-7),” or Form TCEQ-20182, “Certification and Registration for Permits by Rule (PI-7-CERT).”

Should I use a PI-7 or a PI-7-CERT?

The PI-7 and PI-7-CERT forms request administrative and technical information needed by the Air Permits Division to evaluate PBR claims. The PI-7-CERT form also establishes federally enforceable emission limits for individual pollutants. Use caution when setting the emission limit, as the facility may not exceed that limit. If changes occur at a site and the emission limit needs to be updated, you must submit Form TCEQ-10489 (APD-CERT).

An example of a beneficial use of the PI-7-CERT form would be when the potential to emit (PTE) at a facility exceeds major-source thresholds, but the actual emissions from the facility are below the major-source thresholds. The emission limit established under a PI-7-CERT form would allow the site to be considered a “synthetic minor” and would not require a Title V federal operating permit. You can find additional information regarding PTE in Appendix F.

4. Submit the following items for review with your registration form:

• Distance information. Include the distance from the facility’s emission release point to the nearest property line and off-property structure.

• A process flow diagram or process description. Include a step-by-step description of what you do with each material that comes into your business and how the final product moves out the door.

• Emissions data and calculations. Include emission rates for each air contaminant and supporting calculations.

• Equipment specifications. Filter efficiencies, spray-gun specifications and literature, and gun-washer and booth specifications.

• Usage rates of coatings and solvents in gallons per hour and gallons per year.

• Operation schedules. Hours of operation.

• Material Safety Data Sheets. Identify the chemicals used specifically at your site and supply MSDS, technical data sheets, environmental sheets, air quality data sheets, or equivalent supporting documents for all mixtures that contain potential air contaminants.

This information will help permit reviewers understand how your business operates and will help them verify that the emission calculations are correct and that the applicable rules are met.

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5. Pay a registration fee and submit your proof of payment with your registration form. See Form TCEQ-10228 (PI-7) or TCEQ-20182 (PI-7-CERT) to determine the specific fee amount.

Note: You do not need to submit a separate form or pay a separate fee for each PBR. You can apply for multiple PBRs using only one form and paying one fee.

6. Complete Form TCEQ-10400, the TCEQ Core Data Form. If you are a new customer of the TCEQ and have not been issued a regulated-entity number (RN) and customer reference number (CN), you will need to complete this form. If you are an existing customer and have made changes to your customer or site information, you will need to submit an updated form.

Check all applicable PBRs to determine if site approval is required before you begin construction. If no PBR requires site approval from the TCEQ, you may begin construction (or the activity) once the TCEQ has received your application and supporting documentation. However, if any PBR requires written site approval from the TCEQ, do not begin construction until you receive approval in writing. The PBR specific to surface coating, 30 TAC 106.433, requires written site approval from the TCEQ.

New Source Review Permit

If your business cannot qualify for de minimis or a PBR you must obtain an NSR permit. An NSR permit has a more complex application process that is beyond the scope of this document. It is best to contact the Air Permits Division at 512-239-1250 and ask to speak to a coating-permit engineer who can help you determine how to proceed with obtaining proper authorization. Generally, in order to obtain an NSR permit, you will be required to:

• submit the most current version of Form TCEQ-10252 (PI-1), • pay a fee of at least $900 fee, and • submit additional information about your specific facility. You will also have to publish two public notices in a prominent newspaper and post signs (often in more than one language). A public hearing may also be required in order to determine whether you should receive a permit.

Once your application is approved and you have received your permit, you may begin to modify or construct your facility. If you have questions about permitting, or have already started construction without authorization, please call SBLGA at 800-447- 2827.

Title V Federal Operating Permit

Any business classified as a “major source” of air contaminants must obtain a Title V federal operating permit, in addition to a PBR or NSR permit, and comply with additional regulations. A site can be considered major because of the amount of different types of emissions, such as VOCs, NOx, or hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).

In general, sites are considered to be major sources of air contaminants if they have the potential to emit 10 tons per year of a single HAP or 25 tons per year of any

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combination of HAPs. EPA maintains an up-to-date list of HAPs at <www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/orig189.html>.

Additionally, facilities that are located in attainment counties and have the potential to emit 100 tons per year or more of any other contaminant (including VOCs) are considered “major sources.”

Facilities that are located in near-nonattainment and nonattainment counties have lower thresholds for certain air contaminants. This information can be found in 30 TAC Chapter 122, Subchapter A, Section 122.10. To determine the attainment status for the county in which you operate, visit <www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/attainment>.

You can find additional information on potential to emit in Appendix F. If you believe that your facility is a major source of air contaminants, you should contact the Air Permits Division at 512-239-1250 to set up a meeting to discuss your permitting options.

Other Requirements

General Air Quality Rules (30 TAC 101)

Nuisance Emissions

No facility in Texas may create “nuisance” emissions “that adversely affect human health or welfare, animal life, vegetation, or the normal use and enjoyment of property” (30 TAC Chapter 101, Subchapter A, Section 101.4). Nuisance conditions often associated with surface coating include odor and paint overspray.

Emissions Inventory

You may have to send the TCEQ an annual air emissions report, called an “emissions inventory,” detailing the actual annual emissions of air pollutants released at your site if:

• your business is a “major source” of air emissions or • it is located in a nonattainment area and emits 10 tons per year or more of VOCs.

These reports help track and plan the state’s progress in reducing air pollution. Emissions Inventory reporting requirements