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.
Opening Conference
When the consultant arrives at your worksite for the scheduled visit,
he or she will first meet with you in an opening conference to briefly
review the consultant's role and the obligation you incur as an
employer.
Walk Through
Together, you and the Consultant will examine conditions in your
workplace. OSHA strongly encourages maximum employee participation in
the walk-through. Better informed and more alert employees can more
easily work with you to identify and correct potential injury and
illness hazards in your workplace. Talking with employees during the
walk-through helps the consultant identify and judge the nature and
extent of specific hazards.
The Consultant will study your entire workplace or
the specific operations you designate and discuss in the opening
consultation conference. Items will be reserved to specific safety
issues and applicable OSHA standards. Consultants also will point out
other safety or health risks that might not be cited under OSHA
standards, but nevertheless may pose safety or health risks to your
employees. They may suggest and even provide other measures such as
self-inspection and safety and health training you and your employees
can use to prevent future hazardous situations.
A comprehensive consultation also includes (1)
appraisal of all mechanical and environmental hazards and physical work
practices, (2) appraisal of the present job safety and health program
or establishment of one, (3) a conference with management on findings,
(4) a written report of recommendations and agreements, and (5)
training and assistance with implementing recommendations.
Closing Conference
The consultant will then review detailed findings with you in a closing
conference. You will learn not only what you need to improve, but also
what you are doing right. At that time you can discuss problems,
possible solutions and abatement periods to eliminate or control any
serious hazards identified during the walk-through. In rare instances,
the consultant may find an "imminent danger" situation during the
walk-through. If so, you must take immediate action to protect all
employees. In certain other situations that would be judged a "serious
violation" under OSHA criteria, you and the consultant are required to
develop and agree to a reasonable plan and schedule to eliminate or
control that hazard. The consultants will offer general approaches and
options to you. They may also suggest other sources for technical help.
Abatement and Follow Through
Following the closing conference, the consultant will send you a
detailed written report explaining the findings and confirming any
abatement periods agreed upon. Consultants may also contact you from
time to time to check your progress. You, of course, may always contact
them for assistance. Ultimately, OSHA requires hazard abatement so that
each consultation visit achieves its objective -- effective employee
protection. If you fail to eliminate or control identified serious
hazards (or an imminent danger) according to the plan and within the
limits agreed upon or an agreed-upon extension, the situation must be
referred from consultation to an OSHA enforcement office for
appropriate action. This has rarely occurred in the past.
Consultation 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.
The On-Site Consultants Will:
∫ Help you recognize hazards in your workplace
∫ Suggest general approaches or options for solving a safety or health problem
∫ Identify kinds of help available if you need further assistance
∫ Provide you a written report summarizing findings
∫ Assist you to develop or maintain an effective safety and health program
∫ Provide training and education for you and your employees
∫ Recommend you for a one-year exclusion from OSHA
programmed inspections, once program criteria are met.
The On-Site Consultants Will Not:
∫ Issue citations or propose penalties for violations of OSHA standards.
∫ Report possible violations to OSHA enforcement staff.
∫ Guarantee that your workplace will "pass" an OSHA inspection.
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