Introduction
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration oversees workplace inspections and enforcement initiatives against businesses that violate the OSH Act or other health and safety regulations (OSHA) (Michaels & Wagner, 2020). As the safety manager of Company XYZ, this paper outlines the proper actions to take during a walk-through to identify hazards and minimize citations and penalties. This paper also discusses the employer’s rights during an on-site inspection in this SOP.
The Right Steps to Take
Workers at Company XYZ have the right to request an OSHA inspection if they believe the Occupational Safety and Health Act or safety regulations have been violated because the OSH Act covers the corporation. It is possible to examine all or a subset of workplace procedures. Before an OSHA audit can be conducted, some internal arrangements must be made. Therefore, the following essential elements must be guaranteed before an OSHA check is carried out in our company (Michaels & Wagner, 2020). Preparing for an OSHA audit begins with
- developing and implementing a comprehensive safety and health initiative.
- Ensuring documented safety practices’ existence, accuracy, compliance, and correctness.
- Creating a formal procedure for documenting and addressing employee safety fears, and
- establishing a Safety Committee comprised of worker delegates.
This Safety Committee will review and discuss workplace accidents and near-accidents and evaluate and implement documented and implemented safety practices (Mitchell, 2020).
The second procedure is to conduct institutional and external safety and wellness assessments. Hence, to protect the audit report under the attorney-client privilege, reviews should be carried out with the guidance of in-house or outside legal representation at any time feasible. This audit is done either through the Safety Committee, safety or operational managers, or third-party safety and health advisors or advocates. Examine previous health and safety audit recommendations to ensure that specific proposals were taken into account and that problem areas were not ongoing concerns (Michaels & Wagner, 2020). Make sure that any new health and safety evaluation suggestions are considered, and the actions taken to implement them are documented.
Another step is to set up inspection guidelines and assemble an investigation committee. The presentation of qualifications will be the first protocol in this process. During the on-site checking, the compliance officer’s qualifications, which include a picture and a serial number, are presented first. The presentation of the preliminary meeting will be the second protocol. The compliance officer will detail the inspection’s objectives, walk-around procedures, worker participation, staff interviews, and why OSHA selected the workplace for audit. The contractor then assigns a delegate to inspect with the compliance officer. An auditor has the right to be accompanied by any permitted representative of a worker (Mitchell, 2020). The compliance officer will meet in private with a respectable number of workers during the inspection.
In addition, following the introductory meeting, the compliance officer and delegates will tour the workplace’s inspection-related areas in search of potential hazards that could harm or injure workers. The compliance officer will examine work environment harm and illness statistics in addition to the exhibit of the formal OSHA poster. During the walk-around, compliance officers may refer to some apparent violations that can be fixed immediately.
Although reporting these dangers is still required by law, the employer’s prompt action shows that they are acting in good faith. Compliance inspectors will try to limit work disruptions during the audit and maintain the confidentiality of any proprietary information found. After the walk-around, the audit team holds a closing committee meeting with the company and worker delegates to review the findings (Mitchell, 2020). After checking, the compliance officer talks with the company about their alternatives, which might include requesting a casual meeting with OSHA or contesting citations and recommending financial penalties.
If an auditor discovers infringements of OSHA rules or significant risks, OSHA may issue warnings and punitive damages. OSHA must give a citation and suggested sanctions within six months of the wrongdoing. Citations outline the purported OSHA infringements, list any potential consequences, and specify a time limit for mitigating the risks. The two categories of infractions are severe and willful. OSHA has legislation to reduce fines for smaller companies and those who settle fines in good faith (Michaels & Wagner, 2020). Depending on the seriousness of the purported breach, OSHA may decrease the proposed sanction for significant contraventions. No good faith modification will be made for alleged intentional infringement.
Employees’ Rights
Once an OSHA audit begins, businesses have many rights, such as taking side-by-side photos or other hard evidence that OSHA collects during the inspection. During the walk-around, they also have the right to always walk alongside the designated person. Governance interviews are an essential component of another freedom. Companies have the right to attend and participate in interviews of managerial witnesses, regardless of whether the leadership witness requires the presence of a delegate. Organizational delegates’ survey comments bind the corporation, and the OSH Act grants companies the privilege of being present when binding assertions are collected.
Conclusion
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a United States Department of Labor division, provides instructions on requesting and participating in workplace audits (OSHA). As a newly hired safety manager, reviewing previous health and safety inspection proposals is critical to guarantee that suggestions were followed and those issue areas were not ongoing. Make sure that the most recent health and safety compliance recommendations are taken into account and that the measures taken to do so are recorded. Hence, to safeguard the inspection outcomes under the attorney-client privilege, this action should be carried out as directed by internal or external legal counsel.
References
Michaels, D., & Wagner, G. R. (2020). Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and worker safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA, 324(14), 1389. Web.
Mitchell, A. H. (2020). Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulatory compliance. Preventing Occupational Exposures to Infectious Disease in Health Care, 51–66. Web.