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OSHA'S USE OF CONTRACTORS IN ERGONOMICS RULEMAKING RAISED NO ISSUES OF CREDIBILITY
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The Senate Committee on Small Business asked the OIG to obtain answers to several questions regarding the use and payment of contractors in the OSHA ergonomics rulemaking process. We found that (1) OSHA has long used contractors to review comments and testimony in other rulemakings, (2) there are quality controls and checks in place to ensure that the contractors are not working without OSHA oversight, (3) competitive procedures were generally used to select these contractors, and (4) there were no instances in which individuals were working as OSHA employees while working for an outside contractor.
The OIG was asked to asked to provide the answers to certain questions because, in the words of the Committee, "this is the broadest, most complicated, and most expensive regulations ever pursued by the agency." The Committee believed that if OSHA was indeed using outside contractors to review and summarize the ergonomics docket, it could raise potential issues of credibility and compromise the integrity of the rulemaking process.
We concentrated our examination on contract task orders, purchase orders and other documentation related to the proposed ergonomics standards issued November 23, 1999. We interviewed OSHA staff, along with personnel from the Office of the Solicitor and procurement personnel who were familiar with the procedures used to obtain contractors and expert witnesses.
We found that OSHA has used contractors since 1983 to review comments and testimony in other rulemakings. The Agency continued this practice by engaging three contractors to review the proposed standards in the current ergonomics rulemaking. We determined that there are quality controls and checks in place to ensure that these contractors are not working without OSHA oversight. Our report also shows that competitive procedures were generally used to select these contractors. We found no instances in which individuals were working as OSHA employees, while at the same time working for an outside contractor.
To answer the Committee's questions regarding which contracts were let during this rulemaking, we provided a list detailing contract task orders and purchase orders, including the worth, payment amount, and the statement of work for each. We found that contractors, including expert witnesses, had task orders and purchase orders worth $1,720,010, and were paid $858,807 through July 25, 2000. Of these total payments, 28 expert witnesses received $197,552. Expert witnesses were generally paid up to $10,000 each, depending upon the work performed.
In accordance with the Committee's request, our report contained no conclusions or recommendations in connection with this work.
(Report No. 05-00-008-10-001, issued September 20, 2000)
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