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OSHA Announces New
Site-Specific Targeting Plan For The Remainder of 2005 Until
August 5, 2006
In 2004, OSHA sent out a Data Initiative survey to approximately
80,000 general industry establishments, asking for information
on their injury and illness rates for calendar year 2003. OSHA
has now announced its Site-Specific Targeting Plan for conducting
inspections based on the results of this survey. Under the new
plan, the threshold injury and illness rates for inclusion on OSHA’s
primary list for inspections have been reduced to:
A DART rate of 12.0 or higher
or
A DAFWII rate of 9.0 or higher.
This means that if in calendar year 2003 your facility had either
a Day(s) Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rate of 12.0 or
higher or a Day(s) Away From Work Injury and Illness (DAFWII) rate
of 9.0 or higher, YOUR FACILITY WILL BE PLACED ON YOUR
LOCAL OSHA AREA OFFICE’S PRIMARY INSPECTION LIST FOR THE
NEXT 12 MONTHS.
Note that this new Site-Specific Targeting Plan does not apply
to construction worksites, and only the highest 50% rated establishments
in SIC 805 (nursing and personal care facilities) will be included
on the primary inspection list.
While the threshold injury and illness rates have been reduced,
not all facilities on the primary inspection list will receive
a comprehensive inspection. Before beginning inspections, the Compliance
Officer will first review the OSHA 300 Logs for 2002, 2003, and
2004 and calculate the DART and DAFWII rates for each of these
three years. If for any two of these three years the DART rate
is below 5.2 and the DAFWII rate for the same 2 years is below
3.0 (in other words, below twice the private sector 2003 national
incidence rates), the Compliance Officer is to conduct a “records
only” inspection. The “records only” inspections
should consist of only a partial walkthrough to interview employees
and confirm the establishment’s injury and illness experience.
Serious violations observed by the Compliance Officer or brought
to his or her attention during the walkthrough will be investigated
and may be cited.
Unlike in past years, under this year’s plan compliance officers
will conduct only comprehensive safety inspections and not health
inspections, unless your facility is among those covered in SIC
805. Covered facilities in SIC 805 will receive additional health
inspections focusing on ergonomics relating to resident handling,
bloodborne pathogens, tuberculosis, and slips, trips, and falls.
The primary inspection list will also include a random sample of
facilities who either failed to respond to the 2004 survey or those
with 75 employees or more in high-rate industries who reported
low DART rates.
Your facility may be removed from the primary inspection list if:
- Your facility has had a comprehensive safety inspection
since August 5, 2003. In determining this date, use the date
of the opening
conference of that inspection.
- Your facility is participating in an OSHA Strategic
Partnership or is an approved participant in OSHA’s Voluntary
Protection Programs (VPP) or in OSHA Consultation’s Safety
and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).
Facilities that are included in OSHA’s Enhanced Enforcement
Program will also be placed on the primary inspection list. An
employer is included in the Enhanced Enforcement Program if, during
an inspection triggered by a fatality, OSHA finds at least one
high gravity serious, willful, or repeat violation related to the
death.
Should an OSHA area office complete all the inspections on its
primary list, it will begin inspecting facilities on a secondary
list, which will include establishments reporting DART rates between
7.0 and 12.0 or DAFWII rates between 5.0 and 9.0.
The SST plan, which includes a List of the covered SICs, can be
accessed on OSHA’s web site at http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL2_05-05.pdf.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
In our previous OSHA Updates, we’ve told you about the OSHA
Reform bills introduced by Representative Charlie Norwood of Georgia.
The bills were recently passed by the House of Representatives,
but have yet to be voted on by the Senate.
The Reform bills would allow small employers to receive awards
of attorney’s fees when they successfully contest an OSHA
citation; give the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
(“OSHRC”) more authority to overlook the fifteen-day
deadline for employers to contest OSHA citations; give interpretive
authority on OSHA regulations to the OSHRC; and increase the membership
of the OSHRC from three to five.
If you have any questions, please email us at:
You may also call us at 404-525-8622.
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