What Triggers an OSHA Inspection?

What Every Construction Company Owner Should Know

MIOSHA Inspecting a job site in Michigan

The answer is surprisingly simple. OSHA usually ends up on your jobsite for one of two reasons:

1. Something happened.

2. They simply chose your project.

"How do your compliance officers decide which construction projects to inspect?"

I asked that question to a senior member of MIOSHA during a trade association meeting.

Their answer caught me off guard.

"Our officers drive around and stop at random jobsites. If it's a big, visible project, there's a good chance it'll get inspected. We also respond to complaints and injuries."

I'll admit—I was surprised.  I expected to hear something about sophisticated data analysis, injury trends, or a risk-based inspection model. Or at least a statement from OSHA's Inspection Scheduling for Construction directive which says that OSHA uses a computer to randomly select active construction projects from a nationwide database using neutral criteria, rather than allowing inspectors to choose which companies to inspect.

Instead, I got the answer I had hoped wasn't true. Projects that are easy to see, get inspected. Which is why I have seen OSHA spend days on the safest projects in the state and yet, never visit the worst.

In my experience over the past 25 years, I've personally been involved in more than 100 OSHA inspections. One thing I've learned is this: if a crane boom is sticking up in the air on a project and it's visible from a major road, there's a good chance OSHA will stop by.

Why is this important to know? The Fourth Amendment protects businesses from arbitrary government searches. OSHA can't simply decide, "Let's inspect ABC Construction today because we feel like it."

The Constitution requires that programmed inspections be conducted according to a neutral administrative plan, not an inspector's personal discretion. By using this sytem, OSHA reduces the risk that its programmed inspections will be viewed as arbitrary government searches prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.

Then I realized something important.

The people working for OSHA are just that—people. Like the rest of us, they're trying to do their jobs with limited time and resources. They try to do the best they can with the resources they have.

But here's where it gets interesting. The answer I received doesn't tell the whole story.

If you read OSHA's Field Operations Manual, you'll find that the agency has a formal system for deciding which inspections take priority. In reality, field conditions, staffing levels, and local cumstances may influence how inspections occur, but the official process is much more structured than simply driving around looking for jobsites.

Or at least; it should be.

This is the link to OSHAs Field Operations Manual for Inspections

Reasons OSHA Shows Up

According to their FOM, there are two reasons why OSHA would show up to your project:

1. Something happened that caused OSHA to come to your project.

2. OSHA simply picked your project as part of its routine inspection schedule.

Let me explain.

1. Unprogrammed Inspections (something happened)

These inspections occur because something happened that caused OSHA to come to your project to investigate.

For example, an employee is upset that during a high heat index week because there was not disposable cups for the jug of ice water the Foreman brought for the crew. This can be a health concern, so the employee brings it to the Foreman's attention.

The Foreman, displays poor safety leadership and makes fun of the worker in front of the crew and tells the to bring their own cup.

The employee calls OSHA. The next day, OSHA is onsite. This is a classic example of an employee complaint. Of which, it would be unwise for any Foreman or crew to retaliate against the employee who did complain, as it is a protected right of employees.

Other common examples include:

• Someone reports an unsafe condition, such as a large open hole, a mezzanine with no guardrails for fall protection, or a power line in a work area that the GC is ignoring.

• OSHA receives a referral from another agency like a police, fire, or news report.

• A serious injury occurs that results in hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye.

• A fatality is reported.

• OSHA believes workers face an imminent danger. Examples include workers in an unprotected trench or a boom lift within 10' of a power line.

• OSHA returns to verify previously cited hazards were corrected.

OSHA Responding to a complaint

2. Programmed Inspections (They simply chose your project)

Sometimes nothing went wrong, but OSHA just selected your project as part of its inspection schedule.

Why?

Because construction remains one of the nation's highest-risk industries, OSHA works to use resources properly by focusing their energies on projects and tasks that are more dangerous than others.

Some examples include steel erection, excavation work, confined spaces, roofing, or high heat index days.

Construction remains one of the most dangerous industries in the world.

Source: Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR)

Your project may simply be visible and align with their obligation to inspect.

Reasons OSHA Shows Up

One Contractor's Problem Can Become Everyone's Problem

Many owners assume OSHA only inspects the company that triggered the visit, but that isn't how it works.

Imagine an excavation contractor who had a concrete worker bring to their attention the fact that their banks weren't sloped enough. They ignore the workers concerns.

The worker calls OSHA and they show up to inspect as a follow up to the complaint. You would think that the officer would stick to the area under complaint, but in the process of their inspection they notice...

• Roofers working without fall protection

• Unsafe ladders used by the concrete company

• Exposed power lines by the pump truck boom

• And electricians working on energized panels without required PPE and guarding

Now multiple contractors may receive citations.

The inspection didn't begin with the roofers or electricians—but it didn't end with the excavation contractor either.

How does that work?

If inspectors observe other serious hazards in plain view or discover evidence suggesting broader compliance issues, they can expand the scope of the inspection.

What Gives OSHA the Authority?

The United States Congress.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 gives OSHA the legal authority to enter and inspect workplaces.

"to enter without delay and at reasonable times any... construction site...to inspect and investigate..."

 OSH Act - Source: OSHA.Gov

Section 8 of the Act authorizes compliance officers, upon presenting proper credentials, to enter construction sites, inspect working conditions, examine equipment and materials, and privately interview employers and employees during reasonable working hours.

Whether you agree with OSHA enforcement or not, that authority is established by federal law. And it is enforced.

OSHA Penalties for Violations

MIOSHA inspecting equipment and tools on a construction project in Michigan

Don't worry about whether OSHA might show up. If you are in construction, they likely will.

A better question to worry about is:

If they did, what would they find?

You can't control whether OSHA drives past your project tomorrow, but you can control what they find when they stop.

The contractors who consistently pass OSHA inspections aren't usually lucky. They're prepared. They identify hazards before OSHA does, correct them before someone gets hurt, and build a culture where employees feel comfortable speaking up internally instead of calling OSHA.