Occupational Safety and Health 

 

Kennedy has spent over 15 years counseling companies on workplace safety issues across the agriculture, mining, chemical, and oil & gas sectors. He has testified numerous times before key agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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Most recently, as Senior Regulatory Counsel at JGE Global Energy, Kennedy served as the lead compliance advisor on OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) and pipeline safety issues. He directed enterprise risk and EHS strategies for the company and successfully negotiated the settlement of an OSHA fatality suit. He also collaborated directly with plant managers to design EHS policies for audits and inspections, ensuring robust regulatory compliance.

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While at the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), Kennedy represented the agricultural supply industry regarding Executive Order 13650 (Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security), issued following the West, Texas explosion. He guided the association in forming its first regulatory compliance program, ResponsibleAg, and created the first Fertilizer Safety and Health Partners (FSHP) Alliance with OSHA. Additionally, he successfully argued against a statutory interpretation of an OSHA PSM guidance document that would have imposed significant new burdens on the agricultural industry.

Kennedy’s safety advocacy began early in his career as a lead congressional investigator on the BP Texas City explosion for the House Committee on Education and Workforce. He has also represented the oil and gas industry before the United Nations and APEC on Globalized Harmonization Systems (GHS).

 

• OSHA Compliance & Defense

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    OSHA Fatality Suit Defense & Settlement Strategy

  • OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) Program (Retail & Midstream)

  • OSHA’s Recordkeeping Requirements & EHS Audits

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    OSHA Safety Alliances (FSHP)

  • OSHA’s approach to Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)

• Chemical & Explosive Safety

  • Executive Order 13650 (Improving Chemical Facility Safety)

  • Ammonium Nitrate Regulations (Mining & Fertilizer Grade)

  • AN Haz Comm Standard and Blasting/Explosives (29 CFR 1910.109(i))

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    ResponsibleAg Compliance Program Implementation

• Global & Strategic Safety

  • Globalized Harmonization System (GHS) (UN & APEC Representation)

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    Enterprise Risk & Regulatory (EHS) Strategy

  • U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) Investigations

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    Congressional Investigations (BP Texas City)