Skip to content

October 1, 2015, the Department of Labor officially announced a new safety inspection protocol for OSHA investigations.

OSHA initially began piloting a program referred to as the Enforcement Weighting System.  Under this system the agency assigns a measure, called an “enforcement unit” or “EU” to a particular type of investigation. The higher the enforcement unit value, the more complex the nature of the investigation and the more resources OSHA will anticipate expending to investigate the situation.  For example, OSHA has stated that a Process Safety Management (PSM) inspection will receive more EUs than an enforcement inspection and no investigation will exceed eight EUs.  Specific examples provided by OSHA include:  PSM – 7 EUs; Workplace Violence inspections – 3 EUs. To determine these valuations OSHA relied heavily on historical enforcement data, though I would anticipate these valuations may be adjusted over time.  

All employers should be familiar with OSHA’s role in investigating workplaces.  The following fact sheet provided by the Department can be a helpful overview and provide some guidance on what to anticipate with an inspection –  https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/factsheet-inspections.pdf.

Thompson Coe and myHRgenius Tip of the Week is not intended as a solicitation, does not constitute legal advice, and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

woman-giving-speech

Subscribe to myHRgenius for unlimited expert help.

Find out more about the program and subscribe today.

Learn More

Related People

Kevin M. Mosher
Partner

Kevin M. Mosher

651-389-5007
Email

Related Resources