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2019 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY OSHA
What happens if my company is cited for an OSHA violation? OSHA may choose
to issue citations and financial penalties to the company for violating specific OSHA
standards or regulations or for violating the "general duty clause." OSHA must
generally issue any citations within six months of the occurrence of any violations.
Citations are supposed to be mailed to employee representatives no later than one
day after the citation is sent to the employer. Citations can also be mailed to any
employee upon request.
What are my rights if I am cited? You have a number of rights in the process. Conn
sums them up as follows:
"After inspections, employers have the critical right to contest OSHA's
citations, which are nothing more than allegations. OSHA is not the final
word, and there is a body of independent administrative law judges
who hear challenges to OSHA citations. Also after inspections, third
parties (such as plaintiffs' attorneys, union organizers, or competitors)
may attempt to obtain OSHA's inspection file from your inspection
through requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Employers have a right to protect their trade secrets and business
confidential information from disclosure to third parties. They do need
to provide that information to OSHA during the inspection, but if you
identify it as confidential business information, OSHA will either refuse
to produce the information in response to a third-party FOIA request,
or will at least notify you that a FOIA request has been made, and likely
share who made the request and ask you to justify that claim."
Where can I find more information? Here are some resources you may find helpful.
• OSHA's website www.osha.gov
• OSHA's Small Business Handbook—including self inspection checklists www.osha.gov/Publications/
smallbusiness/small-business.html
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