Why Was I Inspected by OSHA?

The mere utterance of the word “OSHA” may have some people running in fear of the unknown. OSHA was formed with the best intentions in mind – saving lives. However, in the years that they have been upholding their mission “to assure safe & healthful working conditions for working men and women,” some may have unjustly given OSHA a “bad rap” for their strict standards and high fines.

A company who puts safety as a priority and who provides adequate resources to ensure that employees are provided with a safe workplace and training on how to safely perform their jobs should have no fear of OSHA. The “unknown” factor is likely to cause this fear. OSHA does not just show up to a workplace out of the blue for no valid reason. There is a specific order of priority that is followed when OSHA selects worksites to inspect.

1. Imminent Danger Situations – These types of inspections include “any conditions or practices in any place of employment which are such that a danger exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm immediately or before the imminence of such danger can be eliminated…” These inspections usually stem from serious workplace accidents which result in injuries such as amputation, serious illnesses, or temporary disability.

2. Fatalities and Catastrophes – As opposed to imminent danger situations, which focus on prevention of fatalities or catastrophic events, these inspections occur after a fatality or workplace catastrophe has actually occurred. These types of incidents must also be reported to OSHA within 8 hours of their occurrence.

3. Complaints – OSHA’s employee responsibilities give employees the right to request an inspection at their workplace if they feel that there are unsafe or unhealthful conditions that violate OSHA’s standards. As part of a strong safety culture, employees should be encouraged to first report all violations to management. In turn, management must be armed with the authority and resources to fix the hazard. However, if the employee feels that the company has not adequately removed the danger, they do have the right to anonymously report the violation to OSHA.

4. Referrals – Referral-initiated inspections are similar to complaint-initiated inspections; however the report of a violation is made from another credible source such as a state or local agency, individual, organization, or the media.

5. Follow-Up – Depending on the circumstances of an initial inspection, the methods used to remove the cited hazards, or the documentation provided to OSHA, a follow-up inspection may be conducted to verify that hazards related to previous citations are no longer a threat to the employees’ safety or health.

6. Planned or Programmed Investigations – Companies who are involved in specific highly hazardous operations, based on type of work or industry classification, or who have experienced high injury & illness rates are likely to be the inspected under this category.

It is important to remember that inspections are typically conducted with no prior notification. Under very special circumstances, OSHA may give the employer a short notification period (notice can be less than 24 hours). It is very important to be ahead of OSHA and to take a preventative look at the hazards that your employees are exposed to. Arming yourself with the knowledge and understanding of how OSHA inspections come about and preventing these red flag situations through safety education and practices is the best medicine to remedy the fear of the unknown when it comes to OSHA.

Any company can be subject to an inspection, don’t let OSHA catch you off guard. LSCI can help you with reduce your chances of fines and citations with any of our multiple safety services.