Question

Before conducting an inspection, the OSHA compliance officer will research our worksite and bring the appropriate materials to conduct their testing (OSHA 2016). They will know what hazards exist in our workplace and the odor is already giving away that there is a big problem on site. JC does have the right as the employer to refuse OSHA entry without a warrant and due to her mistrust of government intrusion she might lean towards this option. I would recommend she let in the OSHA inspector the first reason is because if the OSHA inspector did their research and found the employer to be mistrustful of governmental intrusion or to avoid wasting time and resources the officer could have already obtained a warrant and us trying to turn them away in this situation would shed a negative light on our company (OSHA 29 CFR 1903.4(b)(2)). Even if we were to turn away the officer we might be able to remedy the problem by the time they return but that does not mean we will avoid a citation, the officer is allowed to conduct interviews and will asked questions as to what has been happening at our company or what remediations happened during the delay (Chadwick 2015). If we were to allow the officer to inspect, they will be fairly open to communicate what they are doing in their opening conference and during the walk with the employee representative and EHS professional they can help identify and solve problems that could have been overlooked (OSHA 2016). After the walkaround the OSHA officer will discuss finding and inform the employer of their rights when it comes to contesting a citation as well as layout the rights of the employees (OSHA 2016). The OSHA inspector overall is there to ensure the safety of our employees, it is in our best interest to allow them to inspect our premises being open and honest with the officer can help us create a safer work environment for our employees and to prevent hazards like the nauseating odor from happening again.

Question:

Provide your feedback to the post above and provide a question to be answered ?

Answer 1

Feedback on Case: The company and employer (JC) have been asked to for the inspection under OSHA (Occupational Safety and health administration) because it is mandatory process by Government for safety of employees. This is an Audit conducted by certified government officers to ensure the wellbeing of safety processes of an organization. Their responsibility is to visit the work place, evaluate the chances of accidents and perform the risk analysis. During the Audit, employer has to present the documented procedure for the safety guideline during production/service process. They evaluate the facilities (like safety dress, safety shoe, codes, safety team and Standard operating procedures) have been provided to employee. Also they will check the employee awareness for these resources. Below are the listed feedbacks for this case,

· Proven Guideline: The safety guiding of OSHA has been set after many case studies. This standards is having proven record for having an effective safety system and culture in many big industries and warehouses. So, tolerance against this will not be acceptable at all. The safety guideline of employer should be aligned with OSHA.

· Doubtful behavior of employer: The behavior of JC was doubtful in context of provide all safety facilities to employee and maintain company safe. She is not allowing OSHA officer because she is not following the safety process. It is ground rule that “Auditees do not need any preparation if they are adhere the process”.

· Safety is just formality for employer: When JC thought to have warrant first time and till the officer returns, things will be corrected. Here, JC is saving herself from obligation by government.

· The line “The OSHA inspector overall is there to ensure the safety of our employees” is correct and they should be allowed anytime to do the inspection and Audit.

· It is like have a big achievement if Inspector was not able to find any issues in safety when the inspection happened without informing to employer in advance.

Question to be answered:

1. What is the safety polices of employer? Are they certified in OSHA and are they conducting yearly external audit and inspection?

2. What is the process and frequency of employer to have safety review of company? How often senior management conducting the meeting regarding safety.

3. Is company having separate safety team who is having regular watch on activities and documenting these activity to generate the reports?

4. Is there a procedure and frequency for maintenance of safety equipment like belts, chains, and Fire extinguishers?

5. Is company equipped with the automatic fire alarm protection equipment   

6. What should be the frequency of inspection in OSHA? And how they are justified?

7. What should be the inspector behavior if he found the glitches in safety procedures?

8. What should be the employer’s behavior for safety?