OSHA Inspections

The Occupational Safety and Health Act provides for on-the-spot inspections by OSHA compliance officers or inspectors. Inspections may occur on the spot or as part of an investigation of a complaint or as part of targeted enforcement in high-hazard industries.

When an OSHA compliance officer arrives, managers should ask to see the inspector’s credentials. Next, the company HR representative or safety professional should insist on an initial conference with the compliance officer. During the inspection, the officer checks organizational records to see if they are being maintained and to determine the number of accidents that have occurred.

Following this review of the safety records, the officer conducts an on-the-spot inspection and may use a wide variety of equipment to verify compliance with standards. After the inspection, the compliance officer can issue citations for any violations of standards and provisions of the act.

Federal OSHA compliance officers conducted over 39,000 inspections and found over 70,000 violations in a recent year. The most common violations are related to fall protection, hazard communication, scaffolding, respiratory protection, and powered industrial trucks. The construction industry is cited more often than any other industry.

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