Eric J. Conn is a founding partner of Conn Maciel Carey and Chair of the firm’s national OSHA • Workplace Safety Practice Group. His practice focuses exclusively on issues involving occupational safety and health law.  Before launching his own OSHA Practice, Mr. Conn practiced for more than a decade alongside the former first General Counsel of the OSH Review Commission.

 

Mr. Conn and his OSHA Team at Conn Maciel Carey develop safety and health regulatory strategies for employers across all industries with a particular emphasis in:

 

• Advising and representing clients in relation to inspections, investigations and enforcement actions involving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and state and local regulators.

 

• Managing the full range of litigation against OSHA, including appeals of citations, negotiations of settlements geared to minimize the impact of enforcement actions on wrongful death and personal injury civil cases, and trials before the OSH Review Commission.

 

• Representing employers during U.S. Attorney criminal investigations and prosecutions of alleged OSH Act criminal violations.

 

• Advising employers’ other attorneys in civil cases stemming from workplace accidents about the overlapping OSHA regulatory issues.

 

• Counseling clients through catastrophic industrial, construction, and manufacturing workplace accidents, including explosions and chemical releases.

 

• Developing and auditing safety programs and policies.

 

• Providing workplace safety training and compliance counseling for employers.

 

Prior to founding Conn Maciel Carey, Mr. Conn was Head of an OSHA practice group that was honored as the “Occupational Health & Safety Law Firm of the Year” by Corporate INTL Magazine in its 2014 Global Awards. In 2013 and 2014, he was named a "Rising Star" by Washington, DC Super Lawyers, and as a Super Lawyer every year since.  He has also been selected for inclusion in the Washington Post's Top-Rated Lawyers list in Washington, DC.

 

Mr. Conn is a prolific writer on all topics OSHA related. He is the curator of Conn Maciel Carey’s award-winning OSHA Defense Report blog, and previously edited a popular OSHA law blog at another firm.  Mr. Conn has authored multiple chapters in OSHA treatises, including “OSHA Inspections” in the Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook, 2nd ed. (Gov’t. Institutes, 2008), and “Defending Against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Increasingly Severe Enforcement Practices” in Complying with the Occupational Safety and Health Act: Leading Lawyers (Aspatore, Inside the Minds, 2012).

 

Mr. Conn is also a popular speaker on OSHA and related legal issues, including as the producer of Conn Maciel Carey’s annual OSHA Webinar Series, and regular keynotes trade group and industry conferences.  He is often quoted as a leader in the field in trade publications.

 

Mr. Conn created and curates the OSHA Defense Report Group on LinkedIn, and can be found on twitter as @OSHA_Guy.

 

Mr. Conn lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife and two young sons.

 

 

  IN THE NEWS 

 

Mr. Conn is frequently quoted as an authority by the media. A selection of recent articles can be found here.

 

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  SELECT ARTICLE TOPICS  

 

Hospitals' Heavy Lifting: Understanding OSHA's New Hospital Worker and Patient Safety Guidance

 

OSHA Forecast: Top 5 OSHA Developments to Track in 2014

 

OSHA Proposes Intrusive and Burdensome New Injury & Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Rule

 

5 Questions We Would Ask OSHA about the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP)

 

What Are Employers' Rights During OSHA Inspections?

 

Employees at a Non-Union Worksite May Select a Union Representative for an OSHA Inspection

 

 

  SPEECH TOPICS  

 

OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program

 

OSHA’s Temporary Worker Initiative

 

Preparing for and Managing OSHA Inspections

 

OSHA’s Enforcement Policy for Rolling Stock Fall Protection

 

Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program

 

Injury & Illness Recordkeeping Training and Enforcement Update

 

Sweeping Changes to OSHA’s Sweep Auger Enforcement Policy

 

Today’s OSHA

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• What Grain Handlers Need to Know

• What Chemical Manufacturers and Petroleum Refiners Need to Know

• What Retailers Needs to Know

• What the Hospitality Industry Needs to Know

• What Healthcare Companies and Medical Practices Need to Know

• What Construction Employers Need to Know

• What Grocers Need to Know

• What Manufacturers Need to Know

• What Hotel Operators Need to Know

 

Overview of Key Health & Safety Issues at OSHA

 

Mitigating Safety and Health Risks

 

OSHA’s New Emphasis on Enterprise-Wide Enforcement

 

Process Safety Management Enforcement Update for Chemical/Petrochemical Manufactures & Refiners

 

OSHA Inspections: You Are Next – Preparation, Rights, Obligations

 

OSHA, Discrimination & Our Nation’s Aging Workforce

 

OSHA’s Regulatory Agenda, PSM NEP, Hurricane Preparation & Spill Response

 

More than You Ever Wanted to Know about OSHA (Beginner’s Guide to OSHA)

 

Forecasting Top OSHA Issues under a New Administration or in a New Year

 

And many other OSHA•Workplace Safety topics

 

 

  EDUCATION  

 

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, with honors, 2000

Virginia Law Review

 

Pro se clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

 

B.A., University of Virginia, 1997

 

 

  BAR ADMISSIONS  

 

District of Columbia

Massachusetts

Michigan

Texas

U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit

 

 

  MEMBERSHIPS  

 

American Bar Association, Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee