OSHA INSPECTION PROCESS - Part 1            (Archived Content: 2002)

OSHA's Right to Inspect

If OSHA wants to inspect your workplace, it will. Exercising your rights may help you to gain the most in increased safety and heath in your workplace while at the same time reducing potential liability and future legal hassles.

OSHA HAS THE RIGHT TO INSPECT - The OSH Act grants representatives of the Department of Labor the right to inspect any place of employment in order to determine whether an employer is in compliance with the act's safety and health standards. However, such inspections must occur at reasonable times - that is, during regular work hours - within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner.

HOW OSHA SELECTS INSPECTION SITES - OSHA has developed four general categories of inspections.

1. Imminent danger. Imminent danger inspections are held within 24 hours of OSHA's determination that an imminent danger exists. Because of the potential critical nature of the hazard involved, employers are alerted in advance by OSHA about these inspections. All other inspections are usually unannounced. In fact, Section 17 of the OSH Act provides that individuals who supply employers with advance notice of an inspection are subject to criminal penalties.

2. Workplace fatalities. A second category of OSHA inspections concerns the investigation of workplace fatalities. Employers are required to report these to OSHA within 48 hours.

3. Employee Complaint. Approximately one-third of all inspections belong to the third category, inspections OSHA conducts as a result of receiving a written complain by an employee. Complaints involving serious hazards are inspected within five working days, while complaints involving other-than-serious conditions are inspected within 30 working days. No inspection is conducted, however, if OSHA determines from the complaint that no violation threatening physical harm or imminent danger exists.

Under the OSH Act, the agency is required to furnish the employer with a copy of the employee complaint. However, the employee's identity remains confidential and the employer is prohibited from taking action against the employee because of the complaint.

4. Programmed inspections. The fourth category of inspections involves general-schedule or "programmed" inspections of establishments in high-risk industries. Facilities selected for programmed safety inspections are chosen according to both industry and company lost-workday injury rates. OSHA has developed an establishment list, which sets forth all employers within the jurisdiction of OSHA Regional offices, listed according to their Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. The various industries are then ranked according to their lost-workday injury rates. Programmed health inspections are separately determined by OSHA according to the agency's Health Inspection Plan (HIP). Under this plan, industries are ranked according to OSHA's assessment of the hazardous substances associated with the industry, the number of employees exposed to the substances, and the severity of the potential adverse health effects that might result from exposure to the substances. Establishments are then randomly chosen for inspection from this list. Because OSHA does not believe that illness-incidence rates are an accurate reflection of exposure to hazardous substances, neither industries nor particular employers may be exempted from health inspections on the basis of low illness rates.

Prior to scheduling either safety or health inspections, each regional OSHA director modifies the list by adding or deleting employers based on three criteria:

1. Number of employees. Employers will not be subject to any programmed inspection if 10 or fewer employees have been employed during the past 12 months.
2. Recent safety inspection. Employers will not be subject to a programmed safety inspection if a safety inspection has been conducted within the current or previous fiscal year.
3. Recent health inspection. Employers will not be subject to a programmed health inspection if a health inspection has been conducted within the current or previous three fiscal years with no serious violation cited, there has been documented good-faith efforts to abate all serious hazards.