The U.S. Labor Dept. has launched an initiative to improve safety and enforcement in the engineered stone industry due to severe health risks from silica dust exposure. 

Legal expert Trent Contey weighs in on OSHA's "high-gravity" enforcement, saying he suspects contractors should expect to face more cumulative citations in the future.

OSHA regional administrators and area office directors can now cite certain violations as “instance-by-instance citations.”

Among other changes, the expanded Severe Violator Enforcement Program will now place employers in the program for at least two willful or repeated violations.

OSHA is working to address the threat of heat, the leading cause of death among all weather-related workplace hazards, with new compliance and enforcement activities.

Through the program, OSHA will conduct heat-related workplace inspections before workers suffer preventable injuries, illnesses or fatalities.

The newly established initiative prioritizes heat-related interventions and inspections of work activities on days when the heat index exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

New directive provides OSHA compliance safety and health officers with guidance on how to enforce the silica standards’ requirements.

OSHA now requires employers to record cases of the coronavirus in specific circumstances, though certain companies may not need to report instances depending on the number of employees.