This audio conference was recorded on Wednesday - April 29, 2009

Credits:

This audio conference qualifies for Continuance of Certification (COC) credit. CSPs will earn 0.05 COC points for attending this audio conference.

Description:

Hilda Solis, the new Secretary of Labor, has pledged to “put enforcement back into the Department of Labor” - including more OSHA inspections. MSHA inspections are already up from previous rates, and it’s looking likely that Congress will pass the Protecting American Workers’ Act, which provides for increased monetary penalties against employers.

Additionally, OSHA’s aggressive new National Emphasis Programs are ramping up in various industries, ranging from refineries and chemical production to general manufacturing and any industry involving combustible dust. Under the new administration, employers must get ready for a shift away from the cooperative atmosphere of the recent past to a more aggressive, citation-based approach.

Order this exclusive audio conference recording, when our expert – the former head of OSHA under the Bush administration - will discuss how to effectively handle an OSHA inspection and protect your company from potential civil and criminal penalties. He’ll also review the essential elements of OSHA compliance and an effective workplace safety and health program, with an eye to preparing for increased civil and criminal enforcement, as well as an atmosphere increasingly friendly to unions and whistleblowers.

Speaker(s):

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., Esq., is a partner in the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips, LLP. Foulke works with the firm’s Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Management Practice Group. Prior to joining Fisher & Phillips, Foulke was the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Named by President George W. Bush to head OSHA, he served from April 2006 to November 2008. During his tenure at OSHA, workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities rates dropped to their lowest level in recorded history.

For approximately 30 years, Foulke has worked in the labor and employment area, specializing in occupational safety and health issues, workplace violence risk assessment and prevention, whistleblower protection, and accident and fatality prevention. He also served on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission in Washington, D.C., chairing the Commission from March 1990 to February 1994.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• OSHA’s new focus for the next 4 – or 8 - years
• What your rights are during an OSHA inspection, and how to exercise them
• Effective strategies to properly respond to an OSHA inspector
• What to do and say – and what to avoid - during the opening and closing conferences
• When to conduct an informal conference and informal settlement
• Accepted ways to contest citations
• How to respond to whistleblowers