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On-Site Consultation |
Click on the map to find the local
Consultation Office in your state.
Learn about the Consultation
Recognition Program:
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OSHA's On-Site Consultation Service offers free and
confidential advice to small and medium-sized businesses in all states across
the country, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. Consultation services
are totally separate from enforcement and do not result in penalties or
citations.
Program Information
Using a free consultation service largely funded by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), employers can find out about potential hazards at their worksites, improve
their occupational safety and health management systems, and even qualify for a one-year exemption
from routine OSHA inspections.
The service is delivered by state governments using well-trained professional staff. Most
consultations take place on-site, though limited services away from the worksite are available. |
Primarily targeted for smaller businesses, this safety and health consultation program is completely
separate from the OSHA inspection effort. In addition, no citations are issued or penalties
proposed.
It's confidential, too. Your name, your firm's name, and any information you provide about your
workplace, plus any unsafe or unhealthful working conditions that the consultant uncovers, will not
be reported routinely to the OSHA inspection staff.
Your only obligation will be to commit yourself to correcting serious job safety and health hazards
-- a commitment which you are expected to make prior to the actual visit and carry out in a timely
manner.
Benefits
Knowledge of your workplace hazards and ways to eliminate them can only improve your
own operations and the management of your firm. You will get professional advice and
assistance on the correction of workplace hazards and benefit from on-site training and
assistance provided by the consultant to you and your employees. The consultant can
help you establish or strengthen an employee safety and health program, making safety
and health activities routine considerations rather than crisis-oriented responses. In many
states, employers may participate in the
OSHA Consultation SHARP (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program).
This program provides incentives and support to smaller, high-hazard employers to develop, implement and continuously
improve effective safety and health programs at their worksite(s). The program
recognizes employers who have demonstrated exemplary achievements in workplace
safety and health by receiving a comprehensive safety and health consultation visit,
correcting all workplace safety and health hazards, adopting and implementing effective
safety and health management systems, and agreeing to request further consultative
visits if major changes in working conditions or processes occur that may introduce new
hazards. Employers meeting these specific program requirements may be exempt from
general scheduled OSHA inspections for one year. [More...]
How To Get Started
Because consultation is a voluntary activity, you must request it. Your telephone call or
letter sets the consulting machinery in motion. The consultant will discuss your specific
needs with you and set up a visit date based on the priority assigned to your request,
your work schedule, and the time needed for the consultant to adequately prepare to
serve you. OSHA encourages a complete review of your firm's safety and health situation;
however, if you wish you may limit the visit to one or more specific problems.
[More...]
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