Be Part of the Ultimate Safety & Compliance Community
Trending news, knowledge-building content, and more – all personalized to you!
Under Section 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created OSHA and gave it the authority to enter any factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace or environment where work is performed for the purpose of inspecting and investigating work conditions, equipment, and materials. This is restated in the Department of Labor’s Title 29 regulations at Part 1903.1 and 1903.3.
Section 9 of the OSH Act provides authorization for issuing citations to OSHA standards; Section 10 addresses enforcement procedures; and Section 17 covers penalties for violations.
Another resource for enforcement and penalty information is OSHA’s Field Inspection Reference Manual (FIRM). It details exactly how an inspection must be conducted and covers current penalty assessments which are based on the severity of the violation.