Labor and Employment OSHA
Safety, Health & Environmental Law
Our attorneys are among the most experienced in the nation in handling interface with complex multi-agency investigations of workplace accidents, fatalities, chemical releases, and wall to wall inspections, and contestment of any resultant citations. In coordination with our environmental law practice group, we have handled both criminal and civil safety, health and environmental issues before various agencies regulating workplace environment, safety and health.
Our attorneys frequently advise employers such as manufacturers, shipyards, chemical plants, contractors and employer associations regarding technically and economically feasible compliance alternatives for compliance with safety, health and environmental standards. We have litigated significant issues regarding constitutional or statutory limitations on agency authority. Firm attorneys speak regularly to national forums held by NELI, ALI-ABA and ASSE; assert leadership on the OSHA Committee of the Labor Relations and Employment Law Section of the American Bar Association; provide counsel to associations such as the Voluntary Protection Program Participants Association (VPPPA); and edit the premier treatises on Louisiana, nationwide and international safety, health and environmental law.
Our expertise combined with the close working relationship we have fostered with all levels of regulators has facilitated achievement of client objectives consistent with the statutory purposes of the safety, health and environmental agencies.
We have particular expertise in handling regulatory responses to catastrophic incidents by: Chemical Manufacturer Accident Investigation Board (CMX), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Federal Railway Administration (FRA), Bureau of Explosives (BOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state departments of environmental quality (DEQ), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Chemical Accident Investigation Board, State Police; State and Federal Prosecutors; contesting citations issues under various State OSHA plans; and litigating matters before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Committee.