Las Vegas, NV July 03, 2020
Ahead
of the Independence Day holiday weekend, the Division of Industrial Relations
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted more than 200 initial
surveys of businesses, primarily targeting bars and restaurant lounges for
compliance with the public face covering mandate.
Compliance
with Emergency Directive 024 and workplace safety guidance requiring social
distancing, hand hygiene and proper surface disinfection and cleaning will help
protect Nevada’s workforce and allow businesses to stay open.
Of the 204
businesses observed on July 2, 49 percent complied with the face covering
requirements. Fifty percent of the 180 bars and restaurant bar areas visited by
officials were found to be in compliance, with the remaining establishments including
automobile sales and maintenance, gyms, hair and nail establishments, and
tattoo shops demonstrating a 61 percent rate of compliance.
Since
enforcement of Directive 024 began, the overall business compliance rate is 85
percent in northern Nevada and 65 percent in southern Nevada. Business sectors
with the highest rates of statewide noncompliance include:
- home
improvement stores- 61 percent noncompliance
- bars-
48 percent noncompliance
- grocery
stores- 40 percent noncompliance
- casino
hotels- 33 percent noncompliance
More than 850
observations have been conducted in gaming establishments, bars, restaurants,
casino hotels, gyms, hair and nail salons, automobile sales and maintenance
establishments, grocery stores, home improvement stores, clothing stores and
other locations where large groups of people may be congregating for longer
periods of time, which can lead to a heightened risk of spreading
COVID-19.
Future
observation and inspection activity may target industries and business establishments
that demonstrate high rates of noncompliance or those where high volumes of
complaints have been received by Nevada OSHA.
Follow
up visits of establishments where violations were observed during the initial
survey will be conducted within a 5-day window of the initial visit. If a
violation is found during the follow up visit, a notice of citation and penalty
will be issued. The maximum penalty of $134,940 can be assessed to an employer
that willfully violates the provisions of the directive.
In addition, a notice will be provided
to the business indicating that in the event of future noncompliance, the Administrator may issue an Order requiring
the business to cease all activity at the business location during this state
of emergency under NRS 618.545(1) until the business has established and
implemented operating procedures to comply with the requirements.
In addition to
proactive infield observation activity, Nevada OSHA continues to respond and
investigate complaints and referrals received by their offices related to Updated
Nevada OSHA Guidance for Businesses Operating in Phase 2 of Nevada United:
Roadmap to Recovery Plan published on June 26. This guidance contains
employer requirements for encouraging proper hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfection,
and social distancing. A copy of the guidance can be found on the Division of
Industrial Relations website at http://dir.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/dirnvgov/content/home/features/OSHA%20Ltr%20Phase%20II%20Face%20Coverings%206-26-20A.pdf.
Complaints can be filed
with Nevada OSHA by calling (702)
486-9020 in southern Nevada and (775) 688-3700 in northern Nevada. Complaints can also be filed online at https://www.osha.gov/pls/osha7/eComplaintForm.html.
About
the Division of Industrial Relations:
The Nevada
Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) is the principal regulatory agency
responsible for workplace safety and worker protections in the state of
Nevada. Comprised of five sections –Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, Workers’ Compensation Section, Mechanical Compliance Section,
Mine Safety and Training Section, and the Safety Consultation and Training
Section – DIR works to protect Nevada’s working men and women and provides a
broad scope of training and support to the regulated community. For more
information please visit http://dir.nv.gov.
About
Nevada OSHA:
Nevada OSHA
operates as an approved state program as defined by section 18 of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and is required by the Act to
operate in a manner that is at least as effective as the federal OSHA
enforcement program. Operating out of district offices in Las Vegas and
Reno, Nevada OSHA conducts inspections and investigations intended to identify hazardous
conditions which could harm Nevada’s workers and enforces state and federal
laws protecting the state’s workers. From July 2018 to June 2019, Nevada OSHA
conducted over 1,060 inspections, issuing an average of 1.4 serious violations
per inspection. The Nevada State Plan, at the time of publication of this media
release, is funded by a grant of $1,486,600 federal funds, which constitutes 50
percent of the State Plan budget. Fifty percent, or $1,486,600 of the State
Plan budget, is financed through non-governmental sources. For more information
visit http://dir.nv.gov/OSHA/home.
###