Safety Tidbit #26-What is an OSHA Referral

A friend and colleague asked me the other day “What is an OSHA referral inspection?”

OSHA’s mission is “… to assure the safety and health of America’s working men and women by promulgating and enforcing standards and regulations …” Also, OSHA must manage their resources wisely, so a priority system is used to schedule inspections.

First – Imminent danger (falling from roof)

Second - Fatality/Catastrophe (death/loss of eye)

Third – Complaints/Referrals

Fourth – Programmed Inspections (Special Emphasis Programs)

OSHA handles complaints and referrals the same way.  I wrote a little about this in the previous Safety Tidbit. A referral is an allegation of a potential workplace hazard or violation received from a source other than an employee or employee representative.

OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) - Information based on direct observation of an OSHA CSHO. For instance, a CSHO may be inspecting a workplace for safety hazard and notices a potential health hazard or violation (e.g., strong chemical smell or a respirator user with a ZZ Top-type beard), so they refer the matter to a health CSHO to investigate further.

Safety and health agency – NIOSH, State programs, consultation, state or local health departments or other health professionals in other federal agencies.  Any official governmental safety and health professional can refer their information to OSHA and OSHA will look into the allegations further.

Discrimination complaints – a whistleblower investigator (not the individual whistleblower but the investigator to confirm the allegations of the whistleblower).  OSHA inspects all referrals from OSHA Whistleblower investigators.

Other government agencies – Federal, state or local governmental agencies or their employees including fire and police departments. Often, OSHA Area Offices will develop working relationships with the local fire and police departments, so when they are onsite for a fire and investigation, and something appears to them as a safety violation, they will contact OSHA directly.

Media – This can be either news items reported in the media or reported directly to OSHA by the media.  So if the morning TV news shouts out that an incident happened at the local manufacturing plant, OSHA may decide to inspect that company.

Employer/Employer Representatives – Employers or their representatives may contact OSHA directly of accidents other than fatalities or catastrophes.  Not often does an employer representative (management) refer a hazard to OSHA however, they wish to push the employer to make changes.

So as you can see there are many ways that OSHA can be made aware of workplace hazards and all of these sources come before a general programmed inspection from a Special Emphasis Program.

Hope you found this Safety Tidbit informative.  Thanks for reading.

Source: OSHA Field Operations Manual