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OSHA Revises Workplace Inspections Manual, Emphasizing Recordkeeping Practices, Recognized Hazards

Signaling its renewed focus on enforcement, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released a revised manual guiding the conduct of its inspections.  OSHA’s “Field Operations Manual” or “FOM,” released March 26, is over three hundred pages long and directs OSHA compliance officers from the start of their inspections to the issuance of any citations and penalties.  OSHA initially released the FOM at the end of the Bush Administration.  However, it was temporarily put “on hold” after President Barack Obama took office.

One area of emphasis in the FOM is on OSHA recordkeeping.  The FOM states that at the start of each inspection, an OSHA compliance officer shall review an employer’s injury and illness logs for the three prior calendar years.  Compliance officers are instructed to do this for all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture inspections and investigations.  While a review of records at the start of an inspection is commonplace, this requirement expands the review and makes it a key part of every inspection.  This much is clear:  employers must review their recordkeeping practices and logs to ensure that they are accurate and up to date.

The new FOM also provides more detail on OSHA’s use of the General Duty Clause, which requires all employers to maintain a workplace free from recognized, serious hazards.  To assert a General Duty Clause violation, OSHA must first demonstrate that an employer or the employer’s industry recognized the hazard involved.  The FOM provides an expansive list of the types of documents that signify employer or industry recognition, including company memorandums, safety work rules and manuals, workers’ compensation reports, manufacturers’ warnings, and national consensus standards if the industry participated in the drafting of the standards.  When employers identify hazards through these or other means, they must take steps to address the hazards, if feasible, or risk an OSHA General Duty Clause citation.

In a recent speech, newly-confirmed Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis committed OSHA to increased enforcement.  The FOM may be expected to serve as a key component of that enforcement.  Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to assist employers in understanding the FOM and ensuring that their safety practices are fully compliant with OSHA rules.