How to Prepare for an OSHA Inspection

Would you pass an inspection conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Inspection (OSHA)? Many employers turn a blind eye towards compliance, assuming they won't be the target of compliance officers. It's not until they are actually inspected when violations appear, forcing them to pay hefty fines while taking measures to correct the violations. So, what steps can you take to prepare for an OSHA inspection?

OSHA Inspection Notifications

It's important to note that OSHA rarely provides any sort of notification when conducting an inspection. A compliance officer generally arrives to the workplace unannounced, at which point he or she conducts the inspection. There are a few circumstances to this rule, however, such as the following:

OSHA may notify the employer of an inspection when one of the following occurs:

1. There's an immediate threat.
2. The inspection must be after regular business owners.
3. The management and workers are not on site unless they are given advance notice.
4. When a complete inspection would result.

Employee Representative

Employers should designate an Employee Representative to shadow the OSHA compliance officer while he or she conducts the inspection. OSHA states that companies have a right to designate someone for this task, whom will follow the compliance officer during the inspection. Keep in mind, however, that the OSHA compliance officer must still speak with a number of employees at the work site, regardless of whether or not he or she is being followed by an Employee Representative.

Perform a Mock Inspection

Of course, there's no better way to prepare for an OSHA inspection than by holding a mock inspection. As the name suggests, this is essentially a fake inspection in which the employer and/or another worker pretends to be a compliance officer, searching for OSHA violations within the workplace. If you happen to discover a violation, it should be corrected in a timely manner, before you are the target of a real OSHA inspection.

Identify Problem Areas

In which areas of your workplace is safety a concern? To better prepare for an OSHA inspection, you should aim to identify these problem areas. If you operate a factory or warehouse, for instance, perhaps the storage and/or transportation of goods is a problem. OSHA has strict rules regarding how goods are stored, limiting the height of stacked goods to a certain point in order to prevent tip overs.