OSHA Won’t Routinely Request Employer’s Voluntary Self-Audits Of Workplace Safety and Health

On October 6, 1999, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it will not routinely request voluntary self-audit reports of workplace safety and health conditions at the start of an inspection. Where an audit identifies a hazardous condition in the workplace and the employer promptly takes corrective action, OSHA will not treat the audit report as evidence of a willful violation and will treat the audit as evidence of good faith, which may entitle the employer to a penalty reduction. If the agency has an independent basis to believe that a specific safety or health hazard warranting investigation exists, OSHA may exercise its authority to obtain the relevant portions of voluntary self-audit reports relating to a hazard.

OSHA includes in many of its standards an explicit requirement that employers conduct self-audits to determine their compliance. In addition to these required audits, many employers undertake voluntary self-audits to improve safe and healthful work environments and to ensure compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act. There is little dispute that OSHA can request mandatory audits, but some employers have contested OSHA's right to access their voluntary self-audits. Employers complain that OSHA's use of self-audits in enforcement proceedings discourages employers from conducting them.

Under the OSH Act, an employer's good faith normally reduces the amount of penalty that would be assessed for a violation. OSHA's Field Inspection Reference Manual provides up to a 25% penalty reduction for employers who have implemented a safety and health program, including self-audits. OSHA will treat a voluntary self-audit that results in prompt action to correct violations found, as well as steps to prevent similar violations, as strong evidence of an employer's good faith with respect to matters covered by the voluntary self-audit.

The policy makes clear that if an employer engages in such self audits, it must act on the results. Otherwise, OSHA retains the right to use the audits as a basis of more severe enforcement action.