Lawrence Halprin Quoted in Bloomberg Law Article on Settlement Between The National Chimney Sweep Guild and OSHA

Keller and Heckman Partner Lawrence Halprin was quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Chimney Sweeps Reach Deal to End OSHA Fall Protection Rule Suit.” The article notes Lawrence as counsel to the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG) in executing a precedent-setting settlement with the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The settlement describes how OSHA’s General Industry Fall Protection Standards will be applied to employees in the Chimney Service Industry performing rooftop work on single-family homes and similar structures. Workers can now inspect and clean chimneys and perform related rooftop maintenance tasks using alternative anchorage methods to secure fall protection lifelines and equipment, rather than the anchor points called for in the agency rule.

“Most residential roofs don’t have anchor points, and homeowners don’t want chimney sweeps cutting into their roofs to install anchorages,” noted Lawrence. The settlement instead lets workers secure lifelines to fixed ground-based objects such as large trees, structures and large parked vehicles. “The ropes can then be strung across the roof, so that the alternative acts much the same way as rooftop anchorage.”

To read more about the Settlement Agreement between the National Chimney Sweep Guild and OSHA, please click here.

To read the full article, please click here (subscription required).