Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is authorized to conduct workplace inspections to determine whether employers are complying with standards issued by the Agency for safe and healthful workplaces. OSHA also enforces Section 5(a)(1) of the Act, known as the General Duty Clause, which requires that every working man and woman must be provided with a safe and healthful workplace.
Scope
OSHA covers most private sector employers and workers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other United States jurisdictions either directly through federal OSHA or through an OSHA-approved State Plan. (State Plans are OSHA-approved job safety and health programs operated by individual states instead of federal OSHA.)
Not covered by the OSH Act
- Self-employed workers;
- State and local government workers (EXCEPT that state/local government workers in states that have an approved OSHA State Plan ARE covered by their state’s plan);
- Immediate family members of farm employers that do not employ outside employees; and
- Workplace hazards regulated by another federal agency (for example, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, or Coast Guard).
Regulatory citations
- 29 CFR 1903 — Inspections, citations and proposed penalties
Key definitions
- CSHO (Compliance Safety and Health Officer): The federal OSHA employee who conducts inspections for the agency — a.k.a. “OSHA Inspector.”
- General Duty Clause (GDC): A section of the OSH Act — Section 5(a)(1) — that requires employers to protect employees from recognized, serious hazards, regardless of whether there is a specific standard addressing that hazard. OSHA often uses the GDC to cite employers for not protecting workers from ergonomic-type hazards, workplace violence, and heat stress.
- OSHA: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — the federal agency that sets and enforces worker safety and health laws.
- OSH Act: The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which is the enabling legislation for OSHA.
- Repeated violation: A hazardous/violative condition that is the same or similar to a previously cited condition in the past five years at either the same establishment or another establishment of the same company under federal OSHA jurisdiction.
- Serious violation: A violation where there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.
- Willful violation: A violation that the employer intentionally and knowingly commits.
Summary of requirements
Under the OSH Act, employers should:
- Understand that OSHA has the right to inspect places of work. Employers may exercise their Constitutional rights to request a warrant; however, there is a fairly low threshold for OSHA to obtain such approval.
- Know the reasons that prompt most inspections. Inspections can be triggered in a variety of ways, such as reports of serious injuries, complaints, targeting/emphasis programs, and plain-view hazards. They are seldom at random. Note that some smaller workplaces in low-hazard industries may be exempt from certain types of inspections. See: CPL 02-00-051-Enforcement exemptions and limitations under the Appropriations Act.
- Learn the phases of an OSHA inspection. Inspections will consist of an opening conference, records review, walkthrough inspection, and closing conference. Citations will not be issued during the inspection; those come later from the Area Office director.
- Verify CSHO’s credentials.
- Get a clear understanding of the proposed scope of an inspection. CSHO’s should generally stick to that scope.
- Take photographs of the same things that OSHA inspectors photograph. OSHA has the right to take photographs during inspections. It is a good idea for employers to duplicate this effort. Employers must also remember that OSHA does have the right to photograph in confidential areas; in instances where there are trade secrets, OSHA has special privacy procedures to follow with regard to maintaining the case file documentation.
- Not interfere with employee interviews. Under the OSH Act, OSHA has the right to question employees privately.
- Know that OSHA has 6 months from learning of a hazard to issue citations.
- Post OSHA citations for 3 days or until the violation is corrected, whichever is longer.
- Exercise their right to an informal conference to discuss proposed citations. Employers may also contest citations before an independent review commission.
- Remember there’s only 15-working days to file a proper notice of contest. This must be in writing.
- Not retaliate against any worker for exercising their rights under the law.
