Inspection readiness
OSHA compliance training and audit preparation.
How to run your own self-inspection, what an OSHA compliance officer looks at first, how citations and penalties are calculated, and how to respond if one arrives.
The inspection
What happens when a compliance officer arrives.
- 01
Presentation of credentials
The officer presents credentials and states the reason for the visit: a complaint, a referral, a programmed inspection or a follow-up. You may ask for identification and should note the reason given.
- 02
Opening conference
The scope is explained and your designated representative is identified. This is where your safety officer produces the written programmes. Being organised here sets the tone for everything that follows.
- 03
The walkaround
A physical inspection of the facility with your representative present. The officer may interview employees privately, photograph conditions and take measurements.
- 04
Closing conference
Apparent violations are discussed along with likely classification and abatement periods. Citations arrive later by mail, and you have fifteen working days to contest.
Citations
How violations are classified.
Penalty amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. Classification, not the raw dollar figure, is what drives the outcome.
- Other-than-serious
- A violation with a direct relationship to safety and health but unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. Frequently paperwork failures. Penalties may be reduced substantially or eliminated on good faith.
- Serious
- A substantial probability of death or serious physical harm, where the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. The most common classification for bloodborne pathogens and hazard communication failures.
- Willful
- An intentional disregard for, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Act. Carries the highest penalties and potential criminal referral where a fatality results.
- Repeat
- A substantially similar violation cited previously at the same establishment, or at another establishment of the same employer, within the lookback period. Penalties multiply.
- Failure to abate
- A previously cited condition not corrected by the abatement date. Assessed per day beyond the deadline, which is how a modest citation becomes an expensive one.
Prepare
Quarterly self-inspection checklist.
- Written programmes present, current, dated and signed
- Exposure control plan reviewed within the last twelve months
- Safer sharps device evaluation completed with employee input documented
- Hepatitis B records or declinations complete for all clinical staff
- Sharps containers below fill line, mounted, not overfilled
- Regulated medical waste correctly segregated and labelled
- Chemical inventory current; safety data sheet available for every item
- Secondary containers labelled with identifier and hazard information
- Eyewash station accessible, unobstructed, flushed and logged weekly
- Exit routes unobstructed, exit signage illuminated
- Fire extinguishers inspected visually each month and serviced annually
- Electrical panels with thirty-six inches of clearance, no daisy-chained strips
- OSHA 300 log current; 300A posted in season and prior years retained
- Training records complete for every employee including recent hires
Run a mock inspection before the real one.
We conduct the walkthrough exactly as a compliance officer would and hand you the findings, so the only surprises happen while there is still time to fix them.