Union Approach to Health and Safety: - United Steelworkers

Resource Handout
AFTER THE OSHA INSPECTION:
A Union Guide for Participation in the OSHA Process
An OSHA inspection can be a very important tool to help you make your workplace
safe. Other USW fact sheets have dealt with how to file a complaint and what to do
during an inspection. This fact sheet goes a step further: what happens after the
inspection and what rights and opportunities workers have to participate in the process.
Among the rights workers have to participate in the post-inspection process are these:
right to know the results of the OSHA inspection, what violations have been
identified, and when they will be corrected;
right to ask for a review of any decision not to issue a citation;
right to file a formal protest if OSHA gives the employer too much time to
correct a dangerous hazard;
right to contest any effort by your employer to delay correcting the hazard;
right to participate in any informal conference or negotiations between your
employer and OSHA;
right to initiate your own informal conference with OSHA to discuss any
matters related to its inspection or findings;
right to participate fully in hearings and pre-hearing settlement negotiations
that ensue when an employer contests the citation.
The sections that follow provide more detail on the post-inspection process and your
rights to play an active role in it.
I. THE CITATION
If the OSHA inspector finds one or more violations, a "Citation and Notification of
Penalty" will be sent to your employer. The citation includes a brief description of the
violation, a timetable for correcting the hazard, and the penalty. The person who
filed the complaint resulting in the inspection, and the Union, will also be sent copies.
Management must post the citation notice in a conspicuous place near each cited hazard
for 3 working days or until the hazards are taken care of, whichever is longer. Any
documents related to the abatement, such as an abatement plan, also must be posted. The
employer does not have to post the penalties. To ensure that the Union receives a copy of
the citation and penalty notification, you can send the OSHA Area Director a letter right
after the inspection letting him/her know of your request. At the same time confirm your