Question

You have just been hired as the new EHS Manager at FunStuff Inc. FunStuff Incorporated manufactures large fiberglass manufactured novelty items for carnivals, pools, restaurants, etc. Examples of products produced include logs used in swimming pools and items such as hamburgers, eggs, bacon which are used in children's play area. Parts are assembled using a combination of Styrofoam, fiberglass and hazardous chemicals that includes a toxic mixture of hydrogen peroxide and styrene.

On this particular day, while driving to the plant, you are driving on the frontage road towards the company provided parking lot, with the car windows rolled down, suddenly, you were overcome by a sweet smelling odor in the middle of the roadway. You immediately suspect the odor was coming from the plant, your plant and the location of your new job. The odor made you feel very drowsy and also nauseous. You were driving into what appears to be a volatile situation.( OK this is my feeble attempt at an EHS joke.)

As you sat at your desk, musing what needed to be done about the odor from an EPA perspective, suddenly, your phone rings. It's the Receptionist calling informing you that an OSHA representative is here for a site visit. Taken slightly aback, you as why JC, the owner wasn't notified. She explained that since the owner, JC was off site for the remainder of the day, that you were the next person on her list to call. While JC is supportive of EHS, she also is distrustful of any governmental intrusion. It is up to you to call her and provide your expert opinion about the current situation..

QUESTIONS

What should you do in this situation?

Should an inspection be permitted? Warrant? And if the inspection is permitted, how can you use manage the OSHA inspection and subsequent "OSHA findings" to your advantage?

Answer 1

1. The owner of the company needs to be notified about such auditing visits. Hence the EHS manager needs to contact the owner, JC and take her perspective about the way forward. If JC is still unavailable, as the EHS manager, is the next in command, he needs to take ownership and meet the OSHA representative. The EHS manager also needs to drop a formal message to the owner about his plan of action for the situation in hand. This helps in keeping communication lines clear and avoid any kind of miscommunication.

2. The OSHA inspector needs to have a specific objective in conducting the site visit. The EHS manager can ask for the inspection warrant from the OSHA representative. If there is no warrant, the EHS can politely refuse entry to the representative, stating that warrant is important for such inspections. However if the representative has a legal warrant, then the EHS manager needs to cooperate with the inspection process. The EHS manager was having doubts about the odour coming from plant. He can capitalize on the OSHA inspection to find the root cause of the odour. This will save the company costs which may be spent in conducting RCA (root cause analysis). After root cause has been identified, the manager can come up with interventions to manage the same.

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