Las Vegas, NV July 07, 2020
Las Vegas,
NV – In an effort to
protect Nevada’s workers and educate businesses on the latest requirements so
that Nevada can stay safe and stay open during the pandemic, the Division of
Industrial Relations (DIR) Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is
conducting ongoing field observations and inspections at establishments where
patrons congregate for longer periods of time, which can lead to a heightened
risk of spreading COVID-19.
Since the Governor’s
Declaration of Emergency Directive 024 went into effect on June 26,
approximately 86 percent of businesses in northern Nevada and 67 percent of
businesses in southern Nevada were in compliance on the date of the initial
observation. The Division has conducted 1090
initial field observations at large and small establishments including grocery,
home improvement and clothing stores, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors,
bars and restaurant lounges, casino hotel gaming floors and pools.
On July 6, officials
visited 169 locations including but not limited to convenience stores,
restaurants, auto sales and maintenance, pharmacies, and general retail
establishments and found a statewide compliance rate of 87 percent; 89 percent
in northern Nevada and 79 percent in the south1. Highlights from the
survey found compliance rates of identified business types including:
- Convenience
stores- 74 percent compliance
- Pharmacies-
82 percent compliance
- General
retail- 87 percent compliance
- Restaurants-
93 percent compliance
- Automobile
sales and maintenance- 100 percent compliance
In addition,
the division is currently conducting follow up visits at locations where
noncompliance was found during the initial observation.
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. The business will also be a
notice 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.
Nevada OSHA
has received over 1,000 COVID-19 safety-related complaints since
mid-March. Since the face covering
mandate went into effect, complaint volume received by the established hotlines
has increased significantly. Additional staff has been assigned to help assist
with these call volumes. The agency is collaborating with local jurisdictions
and other regulatory agencies through information sharing and response
coordination to address the most critical and pressing complaints.
Due to high
call volumes, employees are encouraged to file complaints online at https://www.osha.gov/pls/osha7/eComplaintForm.html.
1Daily
compliance rates will vary significantly from day-to-day based on the number of
observations and the types of business surveyed. Industries targeted for
observation where high rates of noncompliance are found will heavily skew the average
compliance rate for that day.
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.
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