From Your Friends at Conn Maciel Carey
As we reflect on all that we are thankful for this Thanksgiving, we want to express our genuine appreciation for your continued support. It is clients like you who make it all worthwhile. Thank you for being a part of our CMC family! Wishing you a joyous and peaceful holiday.
On November 15, 2023, CMC’s MSHA • Workplace Safety Practice Group Chair, Nicholas W. Scala, presented a webinar regarding Best Practices and Challenges of Multi-Operator MSHA Sites.
Working with independent contractors at your mine site is a common occurrence, but not always an easy one. Contractors are essential to the mining industry and will continue to be a constant at the nation’s mines in perpetuity, but as constant as contractors are so are the questions surrounding their presence. Many operators rely on contractors to tell them if a contractor’s employees will qualify as miners for training purposes and assume the contractor is well-versed in MSHA regulations and training expectations. While many contractors satisfy these requirements without issue, operators need to be prepared to make the appropriate inquiries and evaluations when bringing a contractor on-site.
This webinar covered strategies for both mine operators and independent contractors to streamline the onboarding and selection process, and also help facilitate a productive relationship while contractors are on-site.
During this webinar, participants learned about: Continue reading
Conn Maciel Carey LLP, (CMC) a boutique law firm with national practices in Labor and Employment Law, Workplace Safety Law (OSHA and MSHA), and Litigation, is pleased to announce that Andrea O. Chavez has joined the Los Angeles, California office as Senior Counsel in the firm’s Cal/OSHA and California Labor and Employment practices. She is in her seventh year of practice and brings her experience to the firm’s expanding California team.
“I represent employers in state and federal court and before administrative agencies in employment and safety-related disputes. This includes employment discrimination, wage and hour class action, NLRB, Cal/OSHA, and federal OSHA matters,” Ms. Chavez says. “I also focus on counseling employers on all matters related to managing employment relationships.”
CMC welcomes Ms. Chavez to CMC’s Southern California office. She joins the firm’s leadership team on the West Coast, alongside attorneys Megan Shaked and Rachel Conn based in Northern California. Continue reading
On Thursday, October 5, 2023, Eric J. Conn and Nicholas W. Scala presented a webinar regarding Tips and Strategies for Safety-Related Incident Investigation and Audit Reports.
Safety and health audits and accident or near-miss investigations are invaluable tools to identify hazards at a workplace and improve safety, but what happens when a government regulator or plaintiffs’ attorney demands copies of the reports and/or recommendations from the audit or investigation? When not done carefully or under attorney-client privilege, audit and investigation reports can serve as admissions and/or a roadmap for OSHA and MSHA investigators or plaintiffs’ attorneys regarding areas of non-compliance. This in turn can create a disincentive for employers to audit their facilities at all or conduct thorough investigations.
This webinar explored the benefits of conducting audits and investigations at the direction of counsel so as to improve safety and compliance while also protecting the company and management from adverse use by 3rd party litigants or regulators. We reviewed audit and investigation and report-writing strategies and best practices. We also reviewed OSHA’s policy on self-audits and the reality of OSHA’s use of voluntary self-audits during inspections. And we reviewed best practices to manage MSHA’s unlimited lookback period for enforcement.
Participants in this webinar learned: Continue reading
On Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 1 p.m. EST, join Eric J. Conn, Nicholas W. Scala, and Daniel C. Deacon for a webinar regarding Tips and Strategies for Safety-Related Incident Investigation and Audit Reports.
Safety and health audits and accident or near-miss investigations are invaluable tools to identify hazards at a workplace and improve safety, but what happens when a government regulator or plaintiffs’ attorney demands copies of the reports and/or recommendations from the audit or investigation? When not done carefully or under attorney-client privilege, audit and investigation reports can serve as admissions and/or a roadmap for OSHA and MSHA investigators or plaintiffs’ attorneys regarding areas of non-compliance. This in turn can create a disincentive for employers to audit their facilities at all or conduct thorough investigations.
This webinar will explore Continue reading
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, Nicholas Scala presented a webinar regarding Managing MSHA Complaint Investigations and 105(c) Complaints.
MSHA’s authority does not end at regular safety and health inspections, or with serious incident investigations. 
It is unquestioned that miners have the right to file complaints with MSHA, but what some operators may not know is that MSHA is required to conduct an investigation into miner complaints promptly. This includes safety and health complaints, and it also includes complaints of discrimination under §105(c) of the Mine Act. Whistleblower/discrimination protections have been emphasized by the Biden Administration and its Department of Labor, and that includes MSHA. Additionally, MSHA offers miners the opportunity to be temporarily reinstated during the investigation or pendency of the legal matter in some instances. Operators unfamiliar with this process may unknowingly waste vital moments, which have the potential to be very damaging in this process.
This webinar reviewed MSHA’s obligations to investigate complaints of safety and health concerns, as well as complaints of discrimination by miners. Participants learned the timelines for the investigations and best practices for defending against such complaints.
Participants in this webinar learned the following: Continue reading
Conn Maciel Carey LLP (CMC), a boutique law firm with national practices in labor and employment, workplace safety (OSHA and MSHA), and litigation, is pleased to announce that Megan Shaked has been elevated to Partner.
Ms. Shaked, a seasoned employment litigator and Cal/OSHA practitioner based in San Francisco, CA, represents employers on a wide range of employment matters, including Cal/OSHA investigations and appeals of Cal/OSHA citations, claims of discrimination and harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour violations, and whistleblower actions. She also conducts workplace harassment prevention training, and counsels employers on workplace safety compliance, the development of employee handbooks, hiring and termination decisions, leaves of absence and accommodations, and wage and hour compliance.
Ms. Shaked was an integral part of the expansion of CMC’s California Practice when she joined the firm back in 2018. And now she is a key player in the next big expansion of the firm’s California Practice. Continue reading
On Wednesday, July 19, 202, Nicholas Scala presented a webinar covering a Review of MSHA’s Proposed Rule for Respirable Crystalline Silica.
On July 13, 2023, MSHA published its proposed rule Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection in the Federal Register. This long-awaited rule proposes to substantially reduce the permissible exposure level for Respirable Crystalline Silica in the mining industry and proposes substantial new requirements on operators such as mandated testing and documented evaluation, along with the prohibition of some administrative controls for compliance.
As such, our webinar covering Mid-Year MSHA Update and FMSHRC Significant Decision Review focused solely on MSHA’s just published proposed rule on respirable crystalline silica.
This webinar reviewed Continue reading
The Mine Safety & Health Administration’s (“MSHA”) long-awaited proposed rule for Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection has finally been published. MSHA released an early copy of the proposed rule recently on June 30th , but the official version was published on July 13th, on the Federal Register.
Industry stakeholders have heard of MSHA’s plans for a new rule regulating Respirable Crystalline Silica (“RCS”) exposure in the mining industry for more than a decade, and across three presidential administrations if not longer. What MSHA published today is unsurprisingly similar to what stakeholders expected in 2016 when momentum was building for MSHA to adopt the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) new (at that time) RCS standard, although there are some notable differences. Here are some key takeaways from the proposed rule: Continue reading
Conn Maciel Carey LLP (CMC), a boutique law firm with national practices in Workplace Safety – OSHA/MSHA, labor and employment, and litigation, is delighted to announce that attorney Rachel L. Conn has joined the firm’s San Francisco, CA office as Chair of the California Practice.
Ms. Conn comes to CMC from Nixon Peabody, where she was the Head of the OSHA Practice. At CMC, Ms. Conn will lead the team representing California and national employers in inspections, investigations and enforcement actions involving Cal/OSHA, Federal OSHA, and other State OSH Plans, especially the West Coast DOSH states. With strong experience in labor and employment law, she will also help lead the California labor and employment defense practice. Continue reading
