Pillsbury attorneys regularly work with clients on their health and safety obligations under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and analogous laws in California, Kentucky, Minnesota, Washington and other states. In addition to providing counsel on the OSH Act’s general duty clause, we have advised clients on a wide range of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and state health and safety standards, including Process Safety Management, Hazard Communication, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, and Lock Out – Tag Out.

We assist clients in connection with regulatory inspections and enforcement. Our lawyers advise clients on challenging citations and negotiating settlements. We also represent clients in administrative hearings into alleged violations and any subsequent appeals. For example, we are assisting clients in the refining and chemical manufacturing industries in connection with the inspections and subsequent enforcement resulting from Regional and National Emphasis Programs for process safety.

We also help clients evaluate their safety performance, culture and oversight as part of their efforts to avoid future incidents. Several of our lawyers previously served as staff to the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel that evaluated these issues in response to the catastrophic explosion at the Texas City Refinery. Drawing on this experience, Pillsbury works with companies seeking to take the lessons learned from BP and apply them to their operations. In addition to helping several companies evaluate health and safety performance and culture, we advise Boards of Directors and corporate executives on their roles in overseeing regulatory performance and how to evaluate the effectiveness of compliance programs.

Pillsbury's Health and Safety Working Group
Pillsbury administers a Health and Safety Working Group designed for in-house safety professionals who work on health and safety, process safety, and risk management matters. Most of the member companies come from the refining, petrochemical, and other process industries. An annual assessment funds the Working Group's activities, which a client steering committee directs.

The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel in their investigations after the BP Texas City disaster stressed the need for organizations to stay abreast of safety best practices. We see the Working Group's quarterly meetings as a forum for doing so. During these half-day meetings, Pillsbury attorneys will make presentations on emerging issues and provide practical advice on how companies may want to address issues of concern. These meetings also will enable members to discuss topics of interest and benchmark safety efforts with similarly situated organizations. Government officials and other outside experts will be featured speakers during a segment of the quarterly meetings. John Bresland, the head of the CSB, spoke at the Working Group's first meeting. 

What makes the Working Group unique is that it provides a forum for safety professionals across industries and disciplines (i.e., attorneys as well as technical subject matter experts). Many companies consider these issues principally in the context of an industry trade associations which can limit an organization's perspective. Even within these industry organizations, separate forums for attorneys and technical experts typically exist. Safety attorneys discuss these issues with other legal counsel while technical experts meet with other safety managers. In our experience, however, there is a real benefit to bringing these different perspectives together. We find that it is important not only for organizations to share information across industries but also for in-house safety attorneys and in-house subject matter experts to jointly consider the legal and technical aspects of safety performance.

Another benefit to members is that Pillsbury tracks important regulatory developments and provides members with regular e-mail updates. There is no limit to the number of people within member companies who could receive this information. This real time dissemination of information regarding health and safety regulatory and enforcement matters will assist members in anticipating emerging issues.

Representative Engagements

• Energy company–special investigation into safety performance and culture at refinery in response to whistleblower complaint to CEO
• Chemical manufacturer–representation to evaluate the effectiveness of company’s systems for EHS corporate oversight
• Refining company–representation in connection with inspections and subsequent enforcement by OSHA and state equivalent agencies under the Petroleum Refinery Process Safety National Emphasis Program
• Sports arena operator–representation in an investigation by OSHA into a workplace fatality
• Retail company–regular counseling on health and safety matters for all of their U.S. operations, including enforcement by OSHA and state equivalent agencies
• Chemical manufacturer–regular counseling on process safety and other workplace health and safety standards
• Electronics manufacturer–representation in connection with inspection by OSHA into violations of standards related to hazard communication and emergency response