James A. Lastowka is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm's Washington, D.C., office. He is co-head of the Firm’s OSHA, MSHA & Catastrophe Response group. Jim has practiced exclusively in the field of occupational safety and health for close to 30 years. He is a recognized authority on OSHA and MSHA law and has a nationwide safety and health practice.
Jim’s practice includes responding onsite to catastrophic industrial and construction workplace accidents, including explosions, chemical releases and collapses of tunnels, scaffolds, and other structures, conducting internal investigations of fatal and other workplace accidents, managing investigations by OSHA, MSHA, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), EPA, and ATF, as well as by state and local regulatory and law enforcement agencies, and structuring industrial hygiene surveys or other exposure assessments regarding potential employee exposures to toxic chemicals or mold. In addition, Jim’s practice includes providing compliance counseling, conducting safety and health audits and due diligence reviews, handling the full range of OSHA and MSHA litigation, including appeals of citations, penalties and withdrawal orders, investigating and defending discrimination and whistleblower complaints, and participating in rule making proceedings.
Key Accomplishments
- Representing employers nationwide during governmental and other investigations of numerous high profile industrial and construction workplace catastrophes
- Representing employers and leading internal investigations following dozens of fatal and other serious workplace accidents
- Former commissioner of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (1984-1990)
- Former general counsel of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (1981-1984)
- Former assistant general counsel of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (1979-1980)
- Member of the editorial advisory board and a contributing editor to Occupational Hazards magazine, and co-author Ch 8, Site Safety, NEW YORK CONSTRUCTION LAW, Aspen Publishers, Inc. (2003)
Representative Experience
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2009 Handled appeal of CalOSHA industrial hygiene and safety citations issued to major tunnel project near San Francisco, CA
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2009 Handled appeal of OSHA citations following a fatal fall accident at a construction project near San Antonio, TX
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2009 Handled appeal of OSHA citations issued to a major oil and gas drilling contractor at a well site near Pittsburgh, PA
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2009 Handled appeal of OSHA citations issued to a power plant construction project in New Mexico
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2009 Handled appeal of OSHA citations involving combustible dust citations of a food processing facility near LaCrosse, WI
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2009 Handled MSHA discrimination complaint investigations at a surface mine in Wyoming
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2008 Managed OSHA investigation and appeal of citations following fatal concrete shoring collapse at high rise project in Manhattan, NY
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2008 MSHA investigations and appeals of citations issued to aggregates, sand and gravel operations in Texas
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2008 Managed OSHA investigation and appeal of citations for a major construction general contractor following a multi-fatality crane accident in Miami, FL
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2008 Handled multiple MSHA discrimination investigations at a surface coal mine operation in Wyoming
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2007 Represented a major petroleum refiner during an investigation by the CSB and OSHA following a propane release and fire at an oil refinery near Dumas, TX
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2007 Represented a large chemical distribution/terminal operation during multi-agency investigations of an explosion and fire in Kansas City, MO
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2007 Represented a major construction company in multiple investigations by CalOSHA, the State Auditor and the Alameda County District Attorney concerning alleged willful OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping violations
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2007 Handled appeal of willful and repeat citations issued to a major oil and gas drilling contractor following a fatal accident near Syracuse, NY
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2007 Handled appeal of MSHA unwarrantable failure citation issued to a major blasting contractor following blasting accident in Upstate New York
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2006 Managed a North Carolina OSHA investigation following a fatal grain dust explosion at a feedmill in Statesville, NC
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2006 Represented a major construction company in OSHA investigations following the deaths of two FDNY firefighters in a building being demolished at Ground Zero as a result of damage from the 9/11 terrorist attacks
- 2006 Managed multi-agency (CSB, NCOSHA, EPA) investigations of a specialty chemical company following an explosion at a chemical plant near Morganton, NC
- 2005 Multi-agency investigation of multi-fatality confined space accident at petroleum refinery in Delaware City, Delaware
- 2005 OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) inspection at major chemical plant in Institute, West Virginia
- 2005 OSHA investigation of chemical exposures at a pesticide plant in Mobile, Alabama.
- 2005 Defense of MSHA citations relating to fatal electrocution accident at aggregates facility in Texas
- 2005 Defense of OSHA citations issued to general contractor at federal prison construction project in Butner, North Carolina
- 2005 CalOSHA investigation of accident at bridge construction project in Benecia, California
- 2005 MSHA special investigations concerning potential knowing/willful violations and alleged discrimination by mine operator in Ely, Nevada
- 2004 MSHA investigation of double fatality at a surface mine in Ruth, Nevada
- 2004 OSHA investigation of fatal construction accident at Baltimore-Washington International Airport
- 2004 OSHA investigation of fatal construction accident at SW Florida International Airport
- 2003 multi-agency investigation of a multiple fatality explosion at a pharmaceutical supplies manufacturing plant in North Carolina
- 2003 OSHA inspection of a fatal confined-space explosion at an offshore equipment fabrication facility in Corpus Christi, Texas
- 2003 OSHA process safety management program quality verification (PQV) inspection of a petroleum refinery in Delaware.
- 2002 OSHA investigation of a fatal steel erection accident at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia
- 2001 multi-agency investigation of a fatal explosion at a petroleum refinery in Delaware City, Delaware
- 2000 multi-agency investigation of a fatal explosion at a chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas
- 2000 OSHA investigation of a fatal tunneling accident at the Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia
- 2000 MSHA investigation of a fatal haulage accident at a coal mine in Point of Rocks, Wyoming
- 1999 multi-agency investigation of a fatal explosion at a chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas
- 1999 MSHA investigation of a fatal conveyor accident at a sand and gravel mine in Pinal County, Arizona
- 1999 OSHA investigation of a fatal accident at a general aviation facility at the Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia
- 1999 OSHA investigation of a multiple fatality explosion at a chemical plant in Shelby, North Carolina.
- 1999 multi-agency investigation of a multiple fatality explosion at a powerhouse in Dearborn, Michigan.
- 1999 MSHA investigation of a fatal conveyor accident at a sand and gravel mine in Austin, Texas.
- 1998 MSHA investigation of a fatal drowning accident at a sand and gravel mine in McMinnville, Oregon
- 1998 multi-agency investigation of a fatal explosion at an explosives disposal facility in Joplin, Missouri.
- 1998 multi-agency investigation of an explosion at a chemical plant in Paterson, New Jersey
- 1997 OSHA process safety management program quality verification investigation at a chemical plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
- 1997 OSHA investigation of a fatal scaffold collapse at a bridge construction project in Queens, New York.
- 1996 OSHA investigation of a fatality at a fertilizer plant in Woodward, Oklahoma.
- 1996 OSHA investigation of a fatal tunneling accident in Queens, New York
- 1996 OSHA investigation of a fire and chemical release at a chemical plant in Charleston, West Virginia
- 1995 MSHA investigation of a fatal haulage accident at a gold mine construction project in Fairbanks, Alaska
- 1994 multi-agency investigation of a multiple fatality explosion at a fertilizer plant in Sioux City, Iowa
- 1994 MSHA investigation of a fatal accident at a coal mine in Point of Rocks, Wyoming
- 1994 OSHA investigation of a fatal construction accident in Guam.
- 1993 OSHA investigation of a multiple fatality explosion at a chemical plant in Columbia, South Carolina
- 1993 OSHA investigation of a fatality at a manufacturing plant in Urbana, Illinois
- 1993 OSHA investigation of a fatal explosion at a chemical plant in Charleston, West Virginia
- 1992 multi-agency investigation of a multiple fatality explosion at a petroleum refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana
- 1992 OSHA investigation of a fatal tunneling accident in Houston, Texas
- 1991 MSHA investigation of a fatal haulage accident at a coal mine in Bismark, North Dakota
- 1991 MSHA investigation of a fatal haulage accident at a coal mine in Texas
- 1991 multi-agency investigation of a fatal explosion at a chemical plant in Victoria, Texas
- Numerous OSHA and MSHA discrimination complaint investigations
- Numerous NIOSH health hazard investigations and evaluations
Jim is a member of the American Bar Association, including its Labor and Employment Law Section, Occupational Safety and Health Law committee, and its Forum on the Construction Industry. He is a frequent speaker on managing responses to workplace catastrophes, conducting accident investigations, and OSHA and MSHA issues.
Jim is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1976
- Syracuse University, B.A. (with honors), 1973
