Michaels Announces New Inspection Planning Scheme
The Enforcement Weighting System values routine inspections as one Enforcement Unit and more complex categories at up to eight Enforcement Units. The values were set based on historical data, according to the administrator.
OSHA is instituting a new system for planning and measuring its inspections, with more weight given to those that require more time and resources, Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels announced in an Oct. 1 blog post. He explained that a new Enforcement Weighting System will value routine inspections as one Enforcement Unit, while more complex categories are valued at up to eight Enforcement Units. "For example, process safety management inspections are valued at seven units, workplace violence inspections are three units, and inspections involving a chemical for which there is no permissible exposure limit are also three units. The values were set based on historical data," Michaels wrote, adding, "I want to be clear that OSHA has never set quotas for inspections and that will not change."
OSHA personnel conducted 36,163 inspections in FY2014 and state plan states conducted another 47,217 inspections during the year. "Each one of those inspections was important, and potentially lifesaving. But the reality is that some required far more time and resources than others. For example, the inspection of an oil refinery or a chemical manufacturing facility is more complex and time-consuming than one of a trenching site. Those complex inspections make a big difference – showing employers, and the whole country, that we are determined to investigate serious hazards regardless of how complex or challenging those inspections may be," Michaels wrote. "We are introducing this system to improve our strategic planning process and ensure that sufficient enforcement resources are allocated to cases that require more. For two years, we piloted the weighted approach, running it side-by-side with our traditional inspection counting system. And we found that tracking inspections by complexity ensures that we don’t shortchange the more difficult inspections in favor of those that can be done quickly. We will continue to monitor this new approach and make adjustments as needed."
He concluded, "I have long believed that we should not merely focus on the number of inspections that we conduct but also take into account their impact on improving health and safety. Our inspections send a message, and as a result employers abate hazards not just at the establishment we inspect but at other workplaces. This change will allow us to better focus our resources on more meaningful inspections – the ones that have the greatest impact."