OSHA inspectors Administration

Mock OSHA Inspection. Maintenance can learn a lot about how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) trains thein inspectors and what is emphasized in an OSHA inspection. Some of the training of OSHA inspectors follows a program involving the recognition of potential hazards, avoidance of these hazards, and prevention of accidents (RAP). 

Consider the outstanding case of OSHA. At one time its administrators calculated that on a random basis a firm subject to that regulation was likely to be inspected once every 28 years. No doubt the number continues to be about the same. Without inspections OSHA cannot use personal interaction between firms managements and OSHA officials to guide firms to understand the scope of response the agency expects. This may explain why OSHA decided early to adopt meticulous regulations. It may also explain why Congress required OSHA inspectors to issue citations for every violation found, even those that are inconsequential. 

These documents must be available to all workers and OSHA inspectors on request. The program must include a qualified program administrator and requirements for such a person are covered by these regulations (OSHA on line course 2220b, unknown year). 

Because records checks were used instead of site visits in about 15 percent of inspections and because a construction site inspection counted each subcontractor as a separate inspection the total number of workers visited by OSHA inspectors dropped by over 40 percent during the Reagan administration. During the first Reagan term, 1981-1984, OSHA inspections covered only about two to three million workers annually. 

Occupational Safety and Health. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of rqyo created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and authorized it to write occupational safety and health standards. The statute also imposed upon every employer the general duty to maintain a safe and healthful place of employment, and it empowered OSHA inspectors to conduct unannounced inspections for violations of OSEIA standards or the general duty clause. The Eederal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 greatly enhanced the regulatory powers of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by empowering it to prescribe mine safety standards and requiring it to conduct unannounced inspections at mines of all sizes at least four times per year. 

OSHA- Occupational Health and Safety Administration The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA, is a federal government agency in the U.S. Department of Labor. OSHA s Web site is http //www.osha.gov/. The primary goals of OSHA are to save lives, prevent injuries, and protect the health of America s workers. OSHA employs over 2,000 inspectors to ensure job site safety. OSHA was created by the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act of 1970. While many see OSHA as an intrusive government agency intent on enforcing arcane rules, the fact is that OSHA saves lives. And if that is not enough... 

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct) is administered and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Both OSH A and OSHAct were created in December 1970, the same month the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) was created. Unlike the US EPA, OSHA is essentially an enforcement organization and most of its employees are inspectors who perform thousands of workplace inspections per year it is a division of the Department of Labor. The OSHAct assures, as far as possible, that all working men or women have risk-free working environments and imposes on employers the obligation to provide employees with workplaces that are free from recognized health and safety hazards and to maintain compliance with specific OSHA standards. 

The essence of workplace safety and health should not rest upon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, as they should not be the driving forces behind workplace safety and health. OSHA has limited resources for inspection and a limited number of inspectors. Enforcement is usually based on serious complaints, catastrophic events, and workplace deaths. Employers with a good safety and health program and a good safety record have a better opportunity of procuring contracts and orders because of their workplace safety and health record, and reap the benefits of low insurance premiums for workers compensation and liability. Usually, safety and health are linked to the bottom line, which is seldom perceived as humanitarian. 

The regulation of coal mines has been far more intensive than that of other sections of industry in the United States, and for that matter in Australia. In 1985 the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) had roughly the same number of inspectors as the entire Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and made twice as many inspections. MSHA covered about three thousand coal mines while OSHA covered about three million workplaces, making MSHA s inspections two thousand times more frequent (Boden 1985, p. 498). 

Third, many EHS activities are OSHA compliance-driven. In the sustainability world, there is no Federal Sustainability Administration, no massive Federal Register of Sustainability Regulations, no Sustainability Enforcement Divisions and no Federal Sustainability Inspectors, explains Gary Rosenblum, risk manager for the City of Palm Desert, Calif. Sustainability involves audits and codes of conduct and risk management, but not policing in the OSHA cop sense. 

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