2012 - New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association

Why Hoteliers Need To Be Proactive
To Comply with OSHA Standards
Industry News
The Occupational
Safety
& Health Administration
(OSHA) is
the U.S. governmental
agency with the responsibility
to enforce Workplace
Safety & Health
Standards. OSHA inspects
workplaces to
By Joel Paradee,
ensure compliance
G.C.G. Risk Management
with these standards.
Employers in violation
can receive fines, timelines for when hazards must be
fixed, and in large cases, OSHA may send a press release
about the results, creating bad public relations for
your business.
Preparation is Key
While a hotel or resort may not be on the list of “High
Hazard Industries”, hotels are inspected at the rate of
nearly one per day throughout the country, and many
have been given expensive fines that could be avoided
with proper planning.
• Ensure your OSHA Recordkeeping Forms are
up-to-date and accurate within 7 days.
• Create or maintain a Safety Committee to discuss
safety issues at your Hotel.
• Create a plan for receiving an OSHA Inspector
and drill occasionally.
• Work with Safety &
Insurance Professionals to
conduct preemptive mock
inspections to identify
potential violations before
OSHA arrives.
Inspection Tips
Allow the OSHA Inspector to
conduct the inspection properly.
You have the right to ask the
inspector for a warrant, but statistically
in such cases it results in
more violations and higher fines.
The inspector will have an opening
conference with management
and any union representatives to
explain the process and their “Scope of Inspection”.
The Scope of Inspection includes the reason they have
arrived, and what specific areas they plan to inspect.
This limits the inspection to just these areas unless there
is “due cause” to expand it.
Take pictures of alleged violations and keep notes.
Just because an OSHA Inspector thinks something is
a violation, doesn’t mean that it is. Your notes and pictures
can be valuable when disputing violations in your
defense later on.
Receiving Citations
If you receive citations, there is a 15-day period in
which you are allowed to contest citations you feel are
inaccurate, have excessive penalties, or the timeline to
fix the issue is too short.
Many of these issues can be discussed during an Informal
Conference. During this informal conference,
you may come to an agreement with OSHA that works
for both parties. Attempt this early in the 15-day time
frame to allow time to contest properly if an agreement
cannot be reached.
Don’t pay retail. There are a number of adjustments
that can be made to reduce the total cost of citations
such as; Good Faith, Size of Business, History of Violations,
and Gravity of Violations.
Joel Paradee is a Safety Consultant for G.C.G. Risk Management
Inc. and regularly performs loss control inspections. For more
information on OSHA standards and procedures, contact Joel at
joel.paradee@gcgriskmanagement.com.
FOCUS Fall/Winter 2012 | 21