OSHA Inspection Process
It's always illegal for an OSHA CSHO to provide advance notice of an inspection, meaning the OSHA inspection must essentially be a "surprise" to the employer so that it can be effective.
Comments (12)
Did not like the word "always". I think if "always" was another word like "mostly' or "often", I would have went the other way!
I scheduled all kinds of OSHA inspections when I worked in the lead mining/smelting industry. There were annual PMA inspections, inspections when someone's blood lead was over 19 μg/m3, inspections post major injury, etc. I think they only came unexpectedly once or twice out of probably 10 times in my one year there. I'm not proud of this, but that's how it happened.
In my opinion many if not maybe most times an OSHA visit should not be a surprise to an employer. Examples: #1 you report an amputation and you are in Manufacturing (NAICS CODES 31-33) there is a very high likelihood of an inspection. #2 you report a fatality due to an injury, expect a visit real quick. #3 you make the TV news because of injuries, almost for sure. #4 you have several employees complain about the same problem, and you ignore them.