OSHA inspections

COVID-19 and its impact on the OSHA inspection process

Megan E. Baroni Christopher Y. Eddy Peter R. Knight

May 27, 2021

There are a number of best practices that an employer should follow when faced with any OSHA inspection. Like most best practices, they start with advanced planning so that everyone is prepared when the inspector shows up.

Former Cal/OSHA chief Doug Parker to steer OSHA through politics & media scrutiny

Dave Johnson

April 19, 2021

Doug Parker, the former head of Cal/OSHA nominated by President Biden on April 9, 2021, to lead federal OSHA, steps into the most pressurized and politicized atmosphere in the agency’s 50-year history.

OSHA investigating death of worker at Orlando StarFlyer attraction

September 16, 2020

A man fell to his death on Monday, September 14 while working on the StarFlyer ride along Orlando's International Drive tourism district.

Ensure productive facility safety inspections

Megan Hudson

June 12, 2020

Facility safety inspections are important for all businesses, regardless of their size. The objective of these internal audits is to identify hazards, monitor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, and ensure that corrective actions are taken appropriately.

OSHA to focus inspections on ‘imminent danger’ sites

April 15, 2020

Federal workplace safety and health inspectors will focus on sites such as hospitals and other health-care facilities where there is a high risk of coronavirus infection and specific complaints have been filed, OSHA said in its latest guidance.

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The OSHA “willful” mysteries

Often there is no explanation for the charges

Edward Stern

March 2, 2020

Many of the OSHA cases that cite “willful” violations present mysteries. The mysteries are why the alleged violations were categorized as willful. These charges are not a mystery to OSHA, but they are mysteries to readers of citations. Since the penalty for a willful violation can be over $130,000, there should not be any mystery about such charges.

Neglect leaves OSHA short-staffed and leaderless

Desperate hours at the agency?

Dave Johnson

June 18, 2019

In OSHA’s 48-year-old history, the agency has experienced desperate hours on a regular schedule. The agency opened its door in 1971. Before the decade was out a “STOP OSHA” lobbying movement was underway. In 1979, Republican Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania proposed an “OSHA Improvements Act” which would have exempted from inspections all employers, large or small, regardless of industry, with good safety records. It was defeated in 1980.

Why you need an industrial hygienist along during OSHA site sampling

Dan Markiewicz, MS, CIH, CSP, CHMM

October 16, 2018

An OSHA health compliance officer (an industrial hygienist -- IH) recently put me in an ethical dilemma. While conducting “side-by-side” air sampling as the employer’s representative during an OSHA inspection, I observed that the OSHA IH was not sampling for asbestos correctly.

Settlement makes 100 worksites safer

December 9, 2016

A long compliance battle between OSHA and a nationwide terminal company has ended with the company agreeing to improve forklift safety at more than 100 of its freight terminals.

A DOL Blog post

Why blocked exits at Dollar Tree were a big deal

Madeleine Le

August 31, 2016

It was around 4:30 in the afternoon on March 25, 1911. Several hundred workers, mostly young women, were nearing the end of their Saturday shift at a blouse or “shirtwaist” factory in New York City. No one is quite sure how, but a massive fire erupted and spread quickly.