Who is a target for an OSHA inspection? The agency has spelled it out, at least for the next 12 months.
OSHA has released its annual inspection plan known as Site-Specific Targeting (SST) that focuses on workplaces with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses.
SST 2014 is based on data collected from a survey of 80,000 workplaces in high-hazard industries with 20 or more employees.
The primary inspection list consists of:
- manufacturing facilities with a Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) rate at or above 7.0
- manufacturing facilities with a Days Away from Work Injury and Illness (DAFWII) case rate of 5.0 or above
- non-manufacturing facilities (except nursing and personal care facilities) with a DART rate at or above 15.0, or
- non-manufacturing facilities (except nursing and personal care facilities) with a DAFWII rate at or above 14.0.
If an area office completes its inspections of all workplaces on its primary inspection list, it can go to the secondary list which consists of:
- manufacturing facilities reporting DART rates of 5.0 or greater or a DAFWII rate of 4.0 or greater
- non-manufacturing facilities (excluding nursing and personal care facilities) with a DART of 7.0 or higher or a DAFWII of 5.0 or higher, and
- nursing and personal care facilities following requirements set out in the National Emphasis Program for that industry.
There are also tertiary lists regional offices can move on to if all facilities on the secondary list are inspected. These will vary from region to region. The floor: No workplaces with a DART of 3.6 or lower and a DAFWII rate of 2.2 or lower will be included.
Inspections under SST can be delayed for a period of time for these reasons:
- Company has requested an initial OSHA On-Site Consultation for safety and health: inspection deferred for 90 calendar days.
- Company has applied to Voluntary Protection Program status: Facility will be removed from any SST inspection list for up to 75 days before a scheduled VPP on-site review, and
- Company is in the process of meeting the criteria of the OSHA Consultation Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP): Inspection may be deferred for up to 18 months while the employer is working to achieve SHARP status.
For a list of industries included in the STT program, see OSHA’s most recent document.
