Right to Participate in OSHA Inspections
When an OSHA inspector arrives, workers and their representatives have the right to speak privately with the inspector both before and after the inspection takes place.
- A worker representative may also go along on the inspection.
- Where there is no union or employee representative, the OSHA inspector must talk confidentially with a reasonable number of workers during the course of the investigation.
- Workers can talk to the inspector privately.
- They may point out hazards, describe injuries, illnesses, or near misses that resulted from those hazards and describe any concern you have about a safety or health issue.
- Workers can find out about inspection results and abatement measures, and get involved in any meetings or hearings related to the inspection.
- Workers may object to the date set for the violation to be corrected and be notified if the employer files a contest.
In Washington, D.C., a federal administrative law judge ruled that a company must pay a worker it had penalized for assisting federal safety investigators during a site visit. The judge also ordered the company to pay a $17,500 penalty after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration determined the company punished the worker for acting as the miners' representative, an employee representative designated to accompany and provide information to MSHA inspectors during mine inspections. Under the Mine Safety and Health Act, the miners' representative shall "suffer no loss in pay" for this work.
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2-8. What may the OSHA inspector do if there is no employee representative participating in the inspection?
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