It is one of the questions that I get asked most often as a business owner: “How do I approach my state OSHA office?” Companies want to operate as safely as possible to avoid fines, while their local OSHA office many not even know what rope access is. The problem is wide spread, and it’s up to the company to take the first step to remedy the situation.
Many rope access employers and employees avoid the acronym OSHA at all costs, but it doesn’t have to be that way. By sharing my experience with OSHA, my hope is to change your misconceptions with this organization and help answer some of the questions you may have regarding your first steps towards introducing your rope access company to OSHA.
My journey with OSHA started out in an unorthodox manner, yet it ultimately changed my perception of safety and OSHA itself. My first official rope access project was a very challenging condominium complex where I encountered a disgruntled window cleaner whose services had just been replaced by my rope access company; this person threatened to report my company to OSHA for what he believed were willful safety violations. He regularly photographed and reported my work to the property manager and shouted that four letter word OSHA as if it were an obscenity.
I can tell you that it became my worst fear that I could potentially be facing a compliance officer based on this person calling OSHA. I certainly did not want anything to do with OSHA nor did I need a citation at that time. Thankfully, the hands of fate intervened and my destiny with OSHA became an invaluable learning experience. Thinking back, if I could meet that window cleaner today, I would shake his hand and thank him for all that he has done for me and my company.
It begins with your employees; building a small company and hiring employees changes the game significantly, since you now inherit the title of ‘Employer’. This title comes hand in hand with another: Employer Responsibilities. Under the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are required to provide their employees with a place of employment that is “free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.
In simpler terms, employers have a responsibility to provide a safe workplace. (The full list of key employer responsibilities can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/employer-responsibility.html.)
It’s key to understand the importance of safety and health management so that your rope access company is not on the wrong end of an OSHA inspection or worse, a work-related injury or fatality at your company.
So, what’s at stake if you are the employer?
In short: your company, your livelihood, or someone’s life. A work-related injury or fatality will put your company in the cross-hairs of OSHA and also Civil Litigation, at which point it is all but too late. By the time a trial comes around, a lawyer will have a carefully prepared case against you and your company. If this happened to you tomorrow, how prepared would you be?
No one will ever be prepared for a work-related fine, injury or fatality, but you can make sure you are arming your company against the occurrence of all three by being prepared, knowledgeable, above all, genuinely friendly with your local OSHA office.
Q & A’s for Small Business Employers
Q: Can an OSHA Compliance Officer (CSHO) show up unannounced at your site without an appointment for a surprise inspection? Do they need to call ahead, email or send notice of an inspection?
A: Notice of intended inspection shall not be given to an employer prior to the time of actual entry upon the workplace. Compliance Officers will present credentials, and shall be permitted to inspect places of employment, Question employees, and investigate conditions, practices or matter connection with employees.
