Safety Inspection Update Points OSHA at Warehouses, Health Care

OSHA’s revised inspection program will increase the likelihood of on-site inspections for employers in warehousing, transportation, and health-care facilities, attorneys say.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently updated its site-specific targeting inspection program, used for scheduling inspections at non-construction places of employment with 20 or more employees.

OSHA requires employers with more than 10 employees to keep a record of serious work-related injuries and illnesses using its 300 Log. Workplaces that have high injury and illness rates reported from 2021 to 2023 are more likely to see a sweeping inspection under the revised program.

“It’s just another way for OSHA to get their foot in the door to do a comprehensive inspection, and oftentimes OSHA comes to a worksite for one thing and ultimately cites the worksite for another,” said Adam R. Roseman, who counsels companies in safety and health compliance.

“It’s a good reminder to employers to really scrutinize their workplace injuries and illnesses,” he added.

Employers must submit injury and illness data each year. Those with inconsistent record-keeping practices, as well as steadily rising or higher-than-average injury rates above twice the private sector national average in 2022, will likely be flagged under the new directive. But companies with relatively low injury rates could also be randomly selected as a means for OSHA to verify the reliability of the submitted data..

Samuel H. Pond, a managing partner of Pond Lehocky who represents workers, welcomed the more data-driven approach. He noted, however, that federal workforce cuts could hamper any progress being made in this area.

“It could just be for show—if you’ve got the system and you don’t have enough agents going out, then none of this really matters,” Pond said.

The Trump administration is attempting to downsize the federal workforce in the name of cost savings and efficiency. The administration has tried to terminate more than 30,000 employees across agencies ranging from the Department of Education to Health and Human Services—though Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told lawmakers she doesn’t plan to make cuts for safety enforcement work at OSHA.

OSHA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

DART Rate

Employer-submitted injury and illness data enable OSHA to generate an inspection list for companies with elevated, upward-trending, or suspiciously low “Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred” rates known as DART rates. Trucking, warehousing, and nursing facilities all have a higher total DART rate average than the private industry average, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which conducts a national survey of work-related injuries and illnesses.

OSHA uses the DART rates to measure the severity of injuries and illnesses that affect an employee’s ability to work.

Employers should determine if their DART rates fall in any of those categories listed in the directive, and if so, ensure steps have been taken to address where injuries have occurred at their worksite, Phillip B. Russell of Ogletree Deakins said.

“The way to prepare is to go back and look at your 300s and 301s and make sure that you’ve done something about those hazards,” Russell said, referring to OSHA’s injury and illness forms.

Roseman said there are a lot of musculoskeletal injuries recorded by warehousing, nursing homes, and food processing facilities that could put them on OSHA’s radar. The program also serves as a way for OSHA to address what it deems the most hazardous workplaces, he added.

“The data is really their best way to do it because it’s based off the company’s own record-keeping,” Roseman said. “It just continues OSHA’s trend to utilize their resources in sort of what they believe is the most efficient way possible.”

Construction Exemption

While the revised directive replaces one from February 2023 to include more recent data, it maintains an exemption for construction worksites.

This exclusion doesn’t account for the fatal four—hazards responsible for a significant portion of fatalities in construction—as a result, according to Russell.

The top four causes of construction fatalities are: falls, electrocutions, objects striking workers, and employees getting caught-in between objects. OSHA requires employers to address these hazards through means such as training.

“The roofing industry is clearly one of the top hazardous industries that I don’t think we put appropriate attention on,” Russell said.