COSE Update - May 2012

consider creating a suggestion box. “Then, those safety concerns are addressed without fear,” Medlock says. “Employees can get their concerns listened to and addressed.” OSHA also can target companies to audit based on SIC code, Medlock says. If your industry is known to operate certain types of equipment and OSHA is focused
on machine guarding, for example, your
business could be red flagged. “If you
are known to have machinery by your
SIC code that causes amputations, then
randomly you could be targeted for an
inspection,” Medlock says. “OSHA does
this all the time.”
Another reason why your business could
get a knock at the door? “Many construc-
tion inspections are predominantly caused
by drive-bys—someone calling in a fall pro-
tection hazard or a compliance officer seeing
a trenching operation,” Medlock says.

“As an employer, you need to under-
stand why OSHA is there and the scope of
the inspection,” Medlock says. “Do they
plan on doing a wall-to-wall inspection, or
focusing on one, targeted area?”
When OSHA comes knocking, politely
ask about the purpose of the visit, then
assure the compliance officer you want to
cooperate 100 percent.

THE HOT SPOTS. The No. 1 cause for OSHA violation is not having required safety programs in place. “OSHA looks at those as low-hanging fruit,” Medlock says. The key programs OSHA zeroes in on include those that address personal protec-

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