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Internal OSHA Changes Increase Inspection Likelihood for You

Friday, November 1, 2019
Warren Olaya
Internal OSHA Changes Increase Inspection Likelihood for You
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By: Horton Safety Consultants

The September 27, 2019 headline, “U.S. Department of Labor Implements New Weighting System for Workplace Safety and Health Inspections,” may not grab your immediate attention, but it is something every employer should keenly watch!

In simple terms, this change dramatically increases the chances of inspection for certain employers. The agency uses a weighting system to help target limited resources to significant hazards and types of inspections.

Before these recent changes, OSHA awarded higher credit for OSHA inspections based on the time it took to complete the inspection. The length of inspection has little to do with improving workplace safety, so the agency changed the weighting system to make more effective use of limited resources.

We recently warned readers of OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting initiative. OSHA is targeting employers whose injury incident rates exceed that of their peers. OSHA also announced it would apply a higher weighting to these site-specific targeting inspections.

All of this “inside baseball stuff” means it is much more likely employers will be targeted for inspection under the site-specific targeting initiative. Why? Because the agency will receive more “credit” for completing that type of inspection.

As we already recommended, employers that electronically submit their OSHA 300A log information should calculate their OSHA incident rates and compare them against their peers. If rates significantly exceed that of their peer group, employers should plan for the likelihood of a wall-to-wall inspection of their facility.

 

Material posted on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a legal opinion or medical advice. Contact your legal representative or medical professional for information specific to your legal or medical needs.