• Your Demeanor:

Obviously, an OSHA compliance inspection can be a very stressful ordeal. Does it have to be a nerve wracking event? No, it does not. As mentioned above, if you are well prepared then your inspection will go off without a hitch. Follow the simple guidelines below and your inspection should go well. If you are unprepared, your chance to get your safety systems in place are all behind you and your best bet is to act in the following manor:

·         Be courteous and treat the compliance officer with respect.

·         Stay cool, calm and collected. 

·         Do not act overly anxious, nervous, fidgety, or tense. Officers will pick up quickly on this and may dig deeper into something based upon your demeanor at the time.

·         Overall, simply be cordial. OSHA Inspectors are people too and may respond favorably or unfavorably based upon your words and actions as anyone else would.

• General:

In general you will not receive advance notification of an OSHA inspection. Employers should always insist upon seeing the OSHA compliance officer’s credentials, who should readily agree to this request. In extreme cases you may wish to request a search warrant from the compliance officer before allowing entrance into your facility. By law, OSHA is required to have a search warrant to enter your premises; however, requiring OSHA to secure a search warrant could create an adversarial relationship between your company and OSHA. You may want to request this only in the case where a fatality or serious injury occurred that can result in criminal actions.

Protecting your rights and maintaining a cordial relationship with the OSHA inspector.   

1. Ask your OSHA compliance officer as to the purpose of his or her visit. Ask the inspector if this a wall-to-wall inspection or the result of a complaint against the company? If the inspection is the result of a complaint, the compliance officer should only inspect the specific machine or process involved in the complaint.
2. DO NOT at any time leave the OSHA compliance officer alone in your facility. Remain with the compliance officer during their ENTIRE visit.
3. OSHA compliance officers are allowed to speak in private with your employees. Allow ample distance between you and the compliance officer so he/she can speak privately. Any obvious attempt to listen in on conversations between the OSHA compliance officer and your employee will be of detriment to the relationship between you and the OSHA compliance officer and may adversely steer the direction of the inspection in an unfavorable direction. The last statement is important however, you are advised to stay in sight range of the compliance officer.
4. If the compliance officer takes still photos of something, this is acceptable but as a general rule do not allow the compliance officer to take video footage. If the compliance officer takes a photo of something, you should take your own photo as well.
5. If the compliance officer requests certain safety program documentation, get those specific copies for him/her. Do not let the compliance officer browse through documents at will. Make certain that you keep a file that contains a copy of all documents provided to the compliance officer during the course of an inspection.
6. Pay very close attention and listen carefully to any questions asked by the OSHA compliance officer. Answer honestly, but answer only the questions asked - do not volunteer additional information. Make notations of questions that were asked by the OSHA compliance officer and note your answers as well.
7. At any given time never attempt to assume or guess as to what the OSHA compliance officer is asking. If you are uncertain of their question then ask for the officer to clarify. Ascertain that you are 100% clear and understand the entire question before you give your answer. Pick and choose your words carefully.
8. If your OSHA compliance officer writes down any notes – inquire as to what he/she is writing about then record your own notations.

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