Employers have a special and important obligation to provide a safe working environment for their employees, and to protect the health of those who come to their facilities. Additionally, there is an obligation to protect workers against outbreaks of infectious diseases, while still operating and meeting customer and client deadlines during such an outbreak. It is essential for employers to develop effective environmental, health, and safety (EHS) policies and procedures, and advance planning is key. There are multiple state and federal agencies active in this area, including the Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), the U.S. Department of Labor, the Virginia Department of Labor & Industry’s Virginia Occupational Safety & Health Program (VOSH), the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
We offer consultation services to help draft company policies and procedures that align with complex state and federal EHS regulations, standards, and programs. We also have significant experience defending employers, including those in the construction industry, manufacturing, general industry, , and the trucking and transportation industries, that face citations for violations of health & safety regulations and standards, brought by OSHA, VOSH, and the Mine Health & Safety Administration (MSHA). We have experience defending employers facing citations alleging other-than-serious violations, serious violations, repeat violations, and willful violations, including those resulting from workplace injury incidents and fatalities.
Our team also works closing with EHS professionals to assist employers with development of compliant EHS programs, policies and procedures, to respond to workplace injury incidents and fatalities, to defend citations for alleged violations, and to abate violations and hazards.
We provide the following workplace safety services for our clients:
- Consulting services to assist employers to develop effective EHS policies, procedures, and programs designed to provide better workplace safety management and reduce work-related injuries, including “right to know” issues
- Consulting services to assist with construction safety management programs
- Consulting services to assist manufacturers with ESH programs
- Consulting services to assist trucking and transportation EHS programs
- Consulting services concerning the storage, use, disposal, record keeping and reporting requirements for hazardous chemicals
- On-site investigation and incident assessment services should a fatality or workplace injury incident occur
- Internal investigations in response to whistleblower complaints, incidents, and near-misses
- Review of EHS programs, policies, and procedures required by customers and clients to ensure that the Employer’s program meets or exceeds the requirements
- Consulting and legal assistance during OSHA and VOSH inspections and investigations, including inspections in response to complaints, program inspections, and wall-to-wall inspections
- Representation of management in VOSH and OSHA administration hearings (including initial informal conferences)
- Negotiating resolution with OSHA and VOSH of proposed findings and penalties
- Litigation of OSHA, VOSH, and/or MSHA citations and violations
