OSHA Rules for College Sports?
Our friends at law firm Ogletree Deakins raise an interesting issue for colleges and universities to consider: now that the National Labor Relations Board has decreed that student-athletes may be protected as employees and entitled to collective bargaining and other employment rights, can we expect the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to step onto the playing field to protect them from unsafe work environments there?
One can imagine new super-protective safety helmets, new guardrails and padding for the sidelines, safe tackling training for linebackers, and specially roped-off areas in the weight room to avoid “pinch points” and back injuries.
It seems both silly and completely sane, but the Pandora’s Box has been opened. It will be interesting to see if the OSHA inspectors take up the challenge.