Employer Rights ad Resposibilities Followig a Federal OSHA Ispectio OSHA 3000-09R 2015
Occupatioal Safety ad Health Act of 1970 To assure safe ad healthful workig coditios for workig me ad wome; by authorizig eforcemet of the stadards developed uder the Act; by assistig ad ecouragig the States i their efforts to assure safe ad healthful workig coditios; by providig for research, iformatio, educatio, ad traiig i the field of occupatioal safety ad health... This iformatioal booklet provides a geeral overview of employer rights ad resposibilities followig a Federal OSHA ispectio. It does ot alter or determie compliace resposibilities i OSHA stadards or the Occupatioal Safety ad Health Act of 1970. Because iterpretatios ad eforcemet policy may chage over time, you should cosult curret OSHA admiistrative iterpretatios ad decisios by the Occupatioal Safety ad Health Review Commissio ad the courts for additioal guidace o OSHA compliace requiremets. This publicatio is i the public domai ad may be reproduced, fully or partially, without permissio. Source credit is requested but ot required. This iformatio is available to sesoryimpaired idividuals upo request. Voice phoe: (202) 693-1999; teletypewriter (TTY) umber: 1-877-889-5627.
Employer Rights ad Resposibilities Followig a Federal OSHA Ispectio U.S. Departmet of Labor Occupatioal Safety ad Health Admiistratio OSHA 3000-09R 2015 U.S. Departmet of Labor
Cotets After a Federal OSHA Ispectio...3 Postig Requiremets...4 Employer Optios...4 Iformal Coferece ad Settlemet...5 Types of Violatios...7 How to Comply...8 How to Cotest Citatios...10 The Cotest Process...11 Petitio for Modificatio of Abatemet...12 What Workers Ca Do...13 Follow-up Ispectios ad Failure to Abate...13 Employer Resposibilities...14 Worker Retaliatio...15 Providig False Iformatio...16 OSHA Assistace, Services ad Programs...16 NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluatio Program...20 How to Cotact OSHA...21 OSHA Regioal Offices...22 Appedix: The Small Busiess Regulatory Eforcemet Fairess Act of 1996 (SBREFA)...24 2
After a Federal OSHA Ispectio This pamphlet cotais importat iformatio regardig employer rights ad resposibilities followig a Federal Occupatioal Safety ad Health Admiistratio (OSHA) ispectio uder the Occupatioal Safety ad Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), as ameded. Uder the OSH Act, employers have the resposibility to provide a safe workplace. A OSHA compliace safety ad health officer (CSHO) coducts a ispectio of your workplace, i accordace with the OSH Act. After the ispectio, the CSHO reports the fidigs to the OSHA area director who evaluates them. If a violatio exists, OSHA will issue you a Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty detailig the exact ature of the violatio(s) ad ay associated pealties. A citatio iforms you of the alleged violatio, sets a proposed time period withi which to correct the violatio, ad proposes the appropriate dollar pealties. The iformatio i this booklet ca ad should be used as a discussio guide durig your closig coferece with the CSHO. For each apparet violatio foud durig the ispectio, the compliace officer has discussed or will discuss the followig with you: Nature of the violatio; Possible abatemet measures you may take to correct the violative coditio; Possible abatemet dates you may be required to meet; ad Ay pealties that the area director may issue. The CSHO is a highly traied professioal who ca help you recogize ad evaluate hazards as well as suggest appropriate methods of correctig violatios. To miimize worker exposure to possible hazardous coditios, abatemet efforts should always begi as soo as possible. 3
Postig Requiremets Whe you receive a Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty, you must post the citatio (or a copy of it) at or ear the place where each violatio occurred to make employees aware of the hazards to which they may be exposed. The citatio must remai posted i a place where employees ca see it, for three workig days or util the violatio is corrected, whichever is loger. (Saturdays, Sudays, ad Federal holidays are ot couted as workig days.) You must comply with these postig requiremets eve if you cotest the citatio. The abatemet certificatio documets such as abatemet certificatios, abatemet plas ad progress reports also must be posted at or ear the place where the violatio occurred. For moveable equipmet foud to be i violatio ad where the postig of violatios would be difficult or impractical, the employer has the optio to idetify the equipmet with a Warig tag specified i the abatemet verificatio regulatio, Title 29 Code of Federal Regulatios (CFR) 1903.19(i). Employer Optios As a employer who has bee cited, you may take either of the followig courses of actio: If you agree to the Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty, you must correct the coditio by the date set i the citatio ad pay the pealty, if oe is proposed. If you do ot agree, you have 15 workig days from the date you receive the citatio to cotest i writig ay or all of the followig: Citatio; Proposed pealty; ad/or Abatemet date. 4
OSHA ecourages you to call the local OSHA area office upo receipt of the citatios to discuss ay cocers. Before decidig to cotest the citatio, you may request a iformal coferece with the OSHA area director withi the 15-workig-day period to discuss ay issues related to the Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty. (See the followig sectio o Iformal Coferece ad Settlemet). OSHA will iform the affected employee represetatives of the iformal coferece or cotest. Iformal Coferece ad Settlemet Before decidig whether to file a Notice of Itet to Cotest, you may request a iformal coferece with the OSHA area director to discuss the Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty. You may use this opportuity to do ay of the followig: Obtai a better explaatio of the violatios cited; Obtai a more complete uderstadig of the specific stadards that apply; Negotiate ad eter ito a iformal settlemet agreemet; Discuss ways to correct violatios; Discuss issues cocerig proposed pealties; Discuss proposed abatemet dates; Resolve disputed citatios ad pealties, (thereby elimiatig the eed for the more formal procedures associated with litigatio before the Occupatioal Safety ad Health Review Commissio); ad Obtai aswers to ay other questios you may have. 5
OSHA ecourages you to take advatage of the opportuity to have a iformal coferece if you foresee ay difficulties i complyig with ay part of the citatio. Please ote, however, that a iformal coferece must be held withi the 15-workig-day Notice of Itet to Cotest period ad will either exted the 15-workigday cotest period or take the place of the filig of a writte otice if you desire to cotest. Employee represetative(s) have the right to participate i ay iformal coferece or egotiatios betwee the regioal admiistrator or area director ad the employer. If you agree that the cited violatios exist, but you have a valid reaso for wishig to exted the abatemet date(s), you may discuss this with the area director i a iformal coferece. He or she may issue a ameded citatio that chages the abatemet date prior to the expiratio of the 15-workig-day period without your filig a Notice of Itet to Cotest. If you do ot cotest withi 15 workig days, your citatio will become a fial order ot subject to review by ay court or agecy. After this occurs, the OSHA area director may cotiue to provide you with iformatio ad assistace o how to abate the hazards cited i your citatio, but may ot amed or chage ay citatio or pealty which has become a fial order. The area director may oly advise you o abatemet methods or exted the time you eed to abate the violatio. (See Petitio for Modificatio of Abatemet). Wheever the employer, a affected employee, or employee represetative requests a iformal coferece, all the parties shall be afforded the opportuity to participate fully. If either party chooses ot to participate i the iformal coferece, that party forfeits the right to be cosulted before decisios are made that affect the citatios. If the requestig party objects to 6
the attedace of the other party, OSHA may hold separate iformal cofereces. Durig a joit iformal coferece, separate or private discussios will be permitted if either party requests them. Iformal cofereces may be held by ay meas practical. Types of Violatios The followig geeral iformatio defies the types of violatios ad explais the actios you may take if you receive a citatio as the result of a ispectio. I settlig a pealty, OSHA has a policy of reducig pealties for small employers ad those actig i good faith. Willful: A willful violatio exists uder the OSH Act where a employer has demostrated either a itetioal disregard for the requiremets of the OSH Act or a plai idifferece to employee safety ad health. Pealties rage from $5,000 to $70,000 per willful violatio. Serious: Sectio 17(k) of the OSH Act provides that a serious violatio shall be deemed to exist i a place of employmet if there is a substatial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a coditio which exists, or from oe or more practices, meas, methods, operatios, or processes which have bee adopted or are i use, i such place of employmet uless the employer did ot, ad could ot with the exercise of reasoable diligece, kow of the presece of the violatio. OSHA may propose a pealty of up to $7,000 for each violatio. Other-Tha-Serious: This type of violatio is cited i situatios where the accidet/icidet or illess that would be most likely to result from a hazardous coditio would probably ot cause death or serious physical harm, but would have 7
a direct ad immediate relatioship to the safety ad health of employees. OSHA may impose a pealty of up to $7,000 for each violatio. De Miimis: De miimis coditios are those where a employer has implemeted a measure differet from oe specified i a stadard, that has o direct or immediate relatioship to safety or health. These coditios do ot result i citatios or pealties. Failure to Abate: A failure to abate violatio exists whe a previously cited hazardous coditio, practice or o-complyig equipmet has ot bee brought ito compliace sice the prior ispectio (i.e., the violatio remais cotiuously ucorrected) ad is discovered at a later ispectio. If, however, the violatio was corrected, but later reoccurs, the subsequet occurrece is a repeated violatio. OSHA may impose a pealty of up to $7,000 per day for each violatio. Repeated: A employer may be cited for a repeated violatio if that employer has bee cited previously, withi the last five years, for the same or a substatially similar coditio or hazard ad the citatio has become a fial order of the Occupatioal Safety ad Health Review Commissio (OSHRC). A citatio may become a fial order by operatio of law whe a employer does ot cotest the citatio, or pursuat to court decisio or settlemet. Repeated violatios ca brig a civil pealty of up to $70,000 for each violatio. How to Comply For violatios you do ot cotest, you must: (1) promptly otify the OSHA area director by letter, siged by a member of maagemet, that you have take the appropriate corrective actio withi the time set forth i the citatio, ad (2) pay ay pealties itemized. 8
The otificatio you sed the area director is referred to as Abatemet Certificatio. For Other- Tha-Serious violatios, this may be a siged letter idetifyig the ispectio umber ad the citatio item umber ad otig that you corrected the violatio by the date specified o the citatio. For more serious violatios (such as Serious, Willful, Repeated, or Failure to Abate), abatemet certificatio requires more detailed proof. If the employer has abatemet questios after the ispectio, the area director must esure that additioal iformatio, if available, is provided to the employer as soo as possible. Employers also ca fid guidace o abatemet verificatio o OSHA s website at www.osha.gov/ Publicatios/Abate/abate.html. Whe the citatio permits a exteded time for abatemet, you must esure that employees are adequately protected durig this time. For example, the citatio may require the immediate use of persoal protective equipmet by employees while egieerig cotrols are beig istalled. Whe idicated o the citatio, you must also provide OSHA with a abatemet pla (steps you will take to protect employees ad correct the hazards) ad periodic progress reports o your actios. The pealties itemized o the Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty are payable withi 15 workig days of receipt of the pealty otice. If, however, you cotest the citatio or pealty i good faith, OSHA will susped abatemet ad paymet of pealties for those items cotested util the Occupatioal Safety ad Health Review Commissio (OSHRC), or a higher court, issues a fial order or decisio. The OSHRC is a idepedet agecy ad is ot a part of the U.S. Departmet of Labor. The fial order of OSHRC will either uphold, modify, or elimiate 9
the citatios ad/or pealties. Pealties for items ot cotested, however, are still due withi 15 workig days. (For further details, see the followig sectio o How to Cotest Citatios.) Paymet should be made by check or moey order payable to DOL-OSHA. Please idicate o your paymet the OSHA umber from the upper right-had corer of your citatio ad sed it to the OSHA area office listed o the Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty. How to Cotest Citatios If you wish to cotest ay portio of your citatio, you must submit a Notice of Itet to Cotest i writig to the OSHA area office withi 15 workig days after receipt of the Citatio ad Notificatio of Pealty. This applies eve if you have stated your disagreemet with a citatio, pealty, or abatemet date durig a telephoe coversatio or a iformal coferece. The Notice of Itet to Cotest must clearly state what is beig cotested the citatio, the pealty, the abatemet date, or ay combiatio of these factors. I additio, the otice must state whether all the violatios o the citatio, or just specific violatios, are beig cotested. (For example, I wish to cotest the citatio ad pealty proposed for items 3 ad 4 of the citatio issued Jue 27, 2011 ). Your cotest must be made i good faith. OSHA will ot cosider a cotest filed solely to avoid your resposibilities for abatemet or paymet of pealties. A proper cotest of ay item suspeds your legal obligatio to abate ad pay util the item cotested has bee resolved. If you cotest oly the dates idicated o the citatio or if you 10
cotest oly some items o the citatio, you must correct the other items by the abatemet date ad pay the correspodig pealties withi 15 days of otificatio. After you file a Notice of Itet to Cotest, your case is officially i litigatio. If you wish to settle the case, you may cotact the OSHA area director who will give you the ame of the attorey hadlig your case for OSHA. All settlemets of cotested cases are egotiated betwee you ad the attorey accordig to the rules of procedure of the OSHRC. The Cotest Process If you file the writte Notice of Itet to Cotest withi the required 15 workig days, the OSHA area director forwards your case to the OSHRC. The OSHRC hears employer cotests of OSHA citatios. They are a idepedet agecy separate from the Departmet of Labor. The OSHRC assigs the case to a admiistrative law judge who usually will schedule a hearig i a public place close to your workplace. Both employers ad employees have the right to participate i this hearig, which cotais all the elemets of a trial, icludig examiatio ad cross-examiatio of witesses. You may choose to represet yourself or have a attorey represet you. The admiistrative law judge may affirm, modify, or elimiate ay cotested items of the citatio or pealty. As with ay other legal procedure, there is a appeals process. Oce the admiistrative law judge has ruled, ay party to the case may request a further review by the full OSHRC. I additio, ay of the three commissioers may, o his or her ow motio, brig the case before the etire OSHRC for review. The OSHRC s rulig, i tur, 11
may be appealed to the Federal circuit court i which the case arose or for the Federal circuit where the employer has his or her pricipal office. For more iformatio, write to: U.S. Occupatioal Safety ad Health Review Commissio 1120 20th Street, NW, 9th Floor Washigto, DC 20036 Phoe: 202-606-5400 Fax: 202-606-5050 www.oshrc.gov Petitio for Modificatio of Abatemet OSHA assigs abatemet dates o the basis of the best iformatio available whe issuig the citatio. If you are uable to meet a abatemet date because of ucotrollable evets or other circumstaces, ad the 15-workig-day cotest period has expired, you may file a Petitio for Modificatio of Abatemet (PMA) with the OSHA area director. The petitio must be i writig ad must be submitted as soo as possible, but o later tha oe workig day after the abatemet date. To show clearly that you have made a good-faith effort to comply, the PMA must iclude all of the followig iformatio before OSHA cosiders it: Steps you have take to achieve compliace, ad dates they were take; Additioal time you eed to comply; Why you eed additioal time; Iterim steps you are takig to safeguard your workers agaist the cited hazard(s) util the abatemet; ad A certificatio that the petitio has bee posted, the date of postig ad, whe appropriate, a statemet that the petitio has 12
bee furished to a authorized represetative of the affected employees. The petitio must remai posted for 10 workig days, durig which employees may file a objectio. The OSHA area director may grat or oppose a PMA. If it is opposed, it automatically becomes a cotested case before the OSHRC. If a PMA is grated, OSHA may coduct a moitorig ispectio to esure that coditios are as they have bee described ad that adequate progress has bee made toward abatemet. The OSHA area office may provide additioal iformatio o PMAs. What Workers Ca Do Employees or their authorized represetatives may cotest ay or all of the abatemet dates set for violatios if they believe them to be ureasoable. A writte Notice of Itet to Cotest must be filed with the OSHA area director withi 15 workig days after the employer receives the citatio. The filig of a employee cotest does ot susped the employer s obligatio to abate. Employees also have the right to object to a PMA. Such objectios must be i writig ad must be set to the area office withi 10 days of service or postig. OSHA will ot make a decisio regardig the PMA util the Review Commissio resolves the issue. Follow-up Ispectios ad Failure to Abate If you receive a citatio, a follow-up ispectio may be coducted to verify that you have doe the followig: Posted the citatio as required, Corrected the violatios as required i the citatio, ad/or 13
Protected employees adequately ad made appropriate progress i correctig hazards durig multistep or legthy abatemet periods. I additio to providig for pealties for failure-topost citatios ad failure-to-abate violatios, the OSH Act clearly states that you have a cotiuig resposibility to comply with the OSH Act ad assure your employees safe ad healthful workig coditios. OSHA will cite ay ew violatios discovered durig a follow-up ispectio. Employer Resposibilities Employers have the resposibility to provide a safe workplace. Employers MUST provide their employees with a workplace that does ot have serious hazards ad must follow all OSHA safety ad health stadards. Employers must fid ad correct safety ad health problems. Employers MUST also: Promietly display the official OSHA Job Safety ad Health It s the Law poster that describes rights ad resposibilities uder the OSH Act. This poster is free ad ca be dowloaded from www.osha.gov. Iform workers about chemical hazards through traiig, labels, alarms, color-coded systems, chemical iformatio sheets ad other methods. Provide safety traiig to workers i a laguage ad vocabulary they ca uderstad. Keep accurate records of work-related ijuries ad illesses. Perform tests i the workplace, such as air samplig, required by some OSHA stadards. Provide required persoal protective equipmet at o cost to workers.* Provide hearig exams or other medical tests required by OSHA stadards. Post OSHA citatios ad ijury ad illess data where workers ca see them. 14
Notify OSHA withi 8 hours of a workplace fatality or withi 24 hours of ay work-related ipatiet hospitalizatio, amputatio or loss of a eye (1-800-321-OSHA [6742]). Not retaliate agaist workers for usig their rights uder the law, icludig their right to report a work-related ijury or illess. * Employers must pay for most types of required persoal protective equipmet. Worker Retaliatio Sectio 11(c) of the OSH Act prohibits employers from dischargig or otherwise retaliatig agaist a employee who has exercised ay right uder this law, icludig the right to make safety ad health complaits or to request a OSHA ispectio. OSHA will ivestigate complaits from employees who believe they have bee retaliated agaist. If the ivestigatio discloses probable violatios of worker rights, court actio may follow. Employees who believe they have bee retaliated agaist must file their complaits with OSHA withi 30 caledar days from the date the retaliatory decisio has bee both made ad commuicated to the worker. No form is eeded, but workers must call OSHA withi 30 days of the alleged retaliatio (at 1-800-321-OSHA [6742]). I states with OSHA-approved state programs, a employee who believes he/she has bee retaliated agaist uder Sectio 11(c) of the OSH Act is etitled to file a complait uder both state ad federal procedures. Providig False Iformatio All iformatio employers report to OSHA must be accurate ad truthful. Providig false iformatio o efforts to abate cited coditios or i required records is puishable uder the OSH Act. 15
OSHA Assistace, Services ad Programs OSHA has a great deal of iformatio to assist employers i complyig with their resposibilities uder OSHA law. Several OSHA programs ad services ca help employers idetify ad correct job hazards, as well as improve their ijury ad illess prevetio program. Establishig a Ijury ad Illess Prevetio Program The key to a safe ad healthful work eviromet is a comprehesive ijury ad illess prevetio program. Ijury ad illess prevetio programs are systems that ca substatially reduce the umber ad severity of workplace ijuries ad illesses, while reducig costs to employers. Thousads of employers across the Uited States already maage safety usig ijury ad illess prevetio programs, ad OSHA believes that all employers ca ad should do the same. Thirty-four states have requiremets or volutary guidelies for workplace ijury ad illess prevetio programs. Most successful ijury ad illess prevetio programs are based o a commo set of key elemets. These iclude maagemet leadership, worker participatio, hazard idetificatio, hazard prevetio ad cotrol, educatio ad traiig, ad program evaluatio ad improvemet. Visit OSHA s Ijury ad Illess Prevetio Programs web page at www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/ safetyhealth for more iformatio. Compliace Assistace Specialists OSHA has compliace assistace specialists throughout the atio located i most OSHA offices. Compliace assistace specialists ca provide iformatio to employers ad workers about OSHA stadards, short educatioal programs o specific hazards or OSHA rights ad 16
resposibilities, ad iformatio o additioal compliace assistace resources. For more details, visit www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliace_assistace/ cas.html or call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) to cotact your local OSHA office. Free O-site Safety ad Health Cosultatio Services for Small Busiess OSHA s O-site Cosultatio Program offers free ad cofidetial advice to small ad medium-sized busiesses i all states across the coutry, with priority give to high-hazard worksites. Each year, respodig to requests from small employers lookig to create or improve their safety ad health maagemet programs, OSHA s O-site Cosultatio Program coducts over 29,000 visits to small busiess worksites coverig over 1.5 millio workers across the atio. O-site cosultatio services are separate from eforcemet ad do ot result i pealties or citatios. Cosultats from state agecies or uiversities work with employers to idetify workplace hazards, provide advice o compliace with OSHA stadards, ad assist i establishig safety ad health maagemet programs. For more iformatio, to fid the local O-site Cosultatio office i your state, or to request a brochure o Cosultatio Services, visit www.osha. gov/cosultatio, or call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). Uder the cosultatio program, certai exemplary employers may request participatio i OSHA s Safety ad Health Achievemet Recogitio Program (SHARP). Eligibility for participatio icludes, but is ot limited to, receivig a fullservice, comprehesive cosultatio visit, correctig all idetified hazards ad developig a effective safety ad health maagemet program. Worksites that receive SHARP recogitio are exempt from programmed ispectios durig the period that the SHARP certificatio is valid. 17
Cooperative Programs OSHA offers cooperative programs uder which busiesses, labor groups ad other orgaizatios ca work cooperatively with OSHA. To fid out more about ay of the followig programs, visit www.osha.gov/cooperativeprograms. Strategic Parterships ad Alliaces The OSHA Strategic Parterships (OSP) provide the opportuity for OSHA to parter with employers, workers, professioal or trade associatios, labor orgaizatios, ad/or other iterested stakeholders. OSHA Parterships are formalized through uique agreemets desiged to ecourage, assist, ad recogize parter efforts to elimiate serious hazards ad achieve model workplace safety ad health practices. Through the Alliace Program, OSHA works with groups committed to worker safety ad health to prevet workplace fatalities, ijuries ad illesses by developig compliace assistace tools ad resources to share with workers ad employers, ad educate workers ad employers about their rights ad resposibilities. Volutary Protectio Programs (VPP) The VPP recogize employers ad workers i private idustry ad federal agecies who have implemeted effective safety ad health maagemet programs ad maitai ijury ad illess rates below the atioal average for their respective idustries. I VPP, maagemet, labor, ad OSHA work cooperatively ad proactively to prevet fatalities, ijuries, ad illesses through a system focused o: hazard prevetio ad cotrol, worksite aalysis, traiig, ad maagemet commitmet ad worker ivolvemet. 18
Occupatioal Safety ad Health Traiig The OSHA Traiig Istitute parters with 27 OSHA Traiig Istitute Educatio Ceters at 42 locatios throughout the Uited States to deliver courses o OSHA stadards ad occupatioal safety ad health topics to thousads of studets a year. For more iformatio o traiig courses, visit www.osha.gov/otiec. OSHA Educatioal Materials OSHA has may types of educatioal materials i Eglish, Spaish, Vietamese ad other laguages available i prit or olie. These iclude: Brochures/booklets; Fact Sheets; Guidace documets that provide detailed examiatios of specific safety ad health issues; Olie Safety ad Health Topics pages; Posters; Small, lamiated QuickCards that provide brief safety ad health iformatio; ad QuickTakes, OSHA s free, twice-mothly olie ewsletter with the latest ews about OSHA iitiatives ad products to assist employers ad workers i fidig ad prevetig workplace hazards. To sig up for QuickTakes visit www.osha.gov/quicktakes. To view materials available olie or for a listig of free publicatios, visit www.osha.gov/ publicatios. You ca also call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) to order publicatios. Select OSHA publicatios are available i e-book format. OSHA e-books are desiged to icrease readability o smartphoes, tablets ad other mobile devices. For access, go to www.osha.gov/ebooks. 19
OSHA s web site also has iformatio o job hazards ad ijury ad illess prevetio for employers ad workers. To lear more about OSHA s safety ad health resources olie, visit www.osha.gov or www.osha.gov/html/ a z idex.html. NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluatio Program Gettig Help with Health Hazards The Natioal Istitute for Occupatioal Safety ad Health (NIOSH) is a federal agecy that coducts scietific ad medical research o workers safety ad health. At o cost to employers or workers, NIOSH ca help idetify health hazards ad recommed ways to reduce or elimiate those hazards i the workplace through its Health Hazard Evaluatio (HHE) Program. Workers, uio represetatives ad employers ca request a NIOSH HHE. A HHE is ofte requested whe there is a higher tha expected rate of a disease or ijury i a group of workers. These situatios may be the result of a ukow cause, a ew hazard, or a mixture of sources. To request a NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluatio go to www.cdc.gov/iosh/hhe/request.html. To fid out more, i Eglish or Spaish, about the Health Hazard Evaluatio Program: E-mail HHERequestHelp@cdc.gov or call 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636). 20
How to Cotact OSHA For questios or to get iformatio or advice, to report a emergecy, fatality, ipatiet hospitalizatio, amputatio, or loss of a eye, or to file a cofidetial complait, cotact your earest OSHA office, visit www.osha.gov or call OSHA at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), TTY 1-877-889-5627. For assistace, cotact us. We are OSHA. We ca help. 21
OSHA Regioal Offices Regio I Bosto Regioal Office (CT*, ME*, MA, NH, RI, VT*) JFK Federal Buildig, Room E340 Bosto, MA 02203 (617) 565-9860 (617) 565-9827 Fax Regio II New York Regioal Office (NJ*, NY*, PR*, VI*) 201 Varick Street, Room 670 New York, NY 10014 (212) 337-2378 (212) 337-2371 Fax Regio III Philadelphia Regioal Office (DE, DC, MD*, PA, VA*, WV) The Curtis Ceter 170 S. Idepedece Mall West Suite 740 West Philadelphia, PA 19106-3309 (215) 861-4900 (215) 861-4904 Fax Regio IV Atlata Regioal Office (AL, FL, GA, KY*, MS, NC*, SC*, TN*) 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Room 6T50 Atlata, GA 30303 (678) 237-0400 (678) 237-0447 Fax Regio V Chicago Regioal Office (IL*, IN*, MI*, MN*, OH, WI) 230 South Dearbor Street Room 3244 Chicago, IL 60604 (312) 353-2220 (312) 353-7774 Fax Regio VI Dallas Regioal Office (AR, LA, NM*, OK, TX) 525 Griffi Street, Room 602 Dallas, TX 75202 (972) 850-4145 (972) 850-4149 Fax (972) 850-4150 FSO Fax 22
Regio VII Kasas City Regioal Office (IA*, KS, MO, NE) Two Pershig Square Buildig 2300 Mai Street, Suite 1010 Kasas City, MO 64108-2416 (816) 283-8745 (816) 283-0547 Fax Regio VIII Dever Regioal Office (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT*, WY*) Cesar Chavez Memorial Buildig 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 551 Dever, CO 80204 (720) 264-6550 (720) 264-6585 Fax Regio IX Sa Fracisco Regioal Office (AZ*, CA*, HI*, NV*, ad America Samoa, Guam ad the Norther Mariaa Islads) 90 7th Street, Suite 18100 Sa Fracisco, CA 94103 (415) 625-2547 (415) 625-2534 Fax Regio X Seattle Regioal Office (AK*, ID, OR*, WA*) 300 Fifth Aveue, Suite 1280 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 757-6700 (206) 757-6705 Fax *These states ad territories operate their ow OSHA-approved job safety ad health plas ad cover state ad local govermet employees as well as private sector employees. The Coecticut, Illiois, Maie, New Jersey, New York ad Virgi Islads programs cover public employees oly. (Private sector workers i these states are covered by Federal OSHA). States with approved programs must have stadards that are idetical to, or at least as effective as, the Federal OSHA stadards. Note: To get cotact iformatio for OSHA area offices, OSHA-approved state plas ad OSHA cosultatio projects, please visit us olie at www. osha.gov or call us at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). 23
Appedix: The Small Busiess Regulatory Eforcemet Fairess Act of 1996 (SBREFA) The Small Busiess Regulatory Eforcemet Fairess Act of 1996 (SBREFA) gives small busiesses help i uderstadig ad complyig with OSHA regulatios ad allows them a voice i developig ew regulatios. Uder SBREFA, OSHA must: Produce Small Etity Compliace Guides for some agecy rules; Be resposive to small busiess iquiries about complyig with the Agecy s regulatios; Have a pealty reductio policy for small busiesses; Ivolve small busiesses i developig proposed rules expected to sigificatly affect a large umber of small etities through Small Busiess Advocacy Review Paels; ad Give small busiesses the opportuity to challege i court agecy rules or regulatios that they believe will adversely affect them. Commetig o Eforcemet Actios Uder a law passed by Cogress i 1996, the Small Busiess Admiistratio (SBA) has established a SBA Ombudsma ad SBA Regioal Fairess Boards to ivestigate small busiess complaits about Federal agecy eforcemet actios. If you are a small busiess ad believe that you have bee treated ufairly by OSHA, you may file a electroic commet/complait with the SBA Ombudsma over the Iteret at: www.sba. gov/ombudsma/commets/commetform1. html. Or you may cotact the SBA s Office of the Natioal Ombudsma by: Toll-free Phoe: (888) REG-FAIR (734-3247) Fax: (202) 481-5719 24
E-mail: ombudsma@sba.gov Mail: Office of the Natioal Ombudsma U.S. Small Busiess Admiistratio 409 3rd Street, S.W., MC2120 Washigto, DC 20416-0005 To view the SBREFA Act i its etirety, please visit the followig web lik: www.sba.gov/advo/ laws/sbrefa.html For more iformatio o SBREFA, the followig web liks may prove helpful: www.sba.gov/ombudsma www.sba.gov/ombudsma/dsp_overview.html www.sba.gov/ombudsma/dsp_faq.html www.sba.gov/advo www.sba.gov/advo/laws/is_oshapael.html NOTE: Filig a complait with the SBA Ombudsma does ot affect ay obligatio that you may have to comply with a OSHA citatio or other eforcemet actio. Nor does it mea that you eed ot take other available legal steps to protect your iterests. (800) 321-OSHA (6742)
U.S. Departmet of Labor For more iformatio: Occupatioal Safety ad Health Admiistratio www.osha.gov (800) 321-OSHA (6742)