Are you ready for an OSHA inspection?
On October 1st, the start of the new fiscal year for the Federal government, OSHA’s new weighting system for workplace safety and health inspections went into effect. The OSHA Weighting System, or OWS, replaces the time-centric program that was implemented in 2015. According to OSHA , OWS will help the agency better allocate resources and focus on “critical and strategic” areas that have the most impact. OWS was developed based on an evaluation of the time-centric program and recommendations from a working group OSHA convened.
In a press release, OSHA noted that OWS will continue to weight inspections, but it will not be limited to the time-centric factor as before. Other factors that will be factored, include:
- agency priorities
- the impact of inspections
- site-specific targeting
- According to OSHA, the new OWS approach reinforces OSHA’s balanced approach to occupational safety and health and will incorporate the three major work elements performed in the field:
- enforcement activity
- essential enforcement support functions
- compliance assistance efforts
Inspections and internal audits are the hallmark of any EHSQ program built upon the plan, do, check, act model and should help drive continuous improvement across your operations. To learn more about what you can do to prep for an inspection, check out our post, Don’t Sweat: How to Effectively Prepare for an FDA or OSHA Inspection.
