The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced in October that it is reviving a 2015 Site-Specific Targeting (SST) Program with the purpose of conducting inspections of targeted employers with high numbers of injuries and illnesses at non-construction workplaces: OSHA Directive No. 18-01 (CPL 02), Site-Specific Targeting 2016 (SST-16) (O.S.H.A. 2018). The new programmed inspection initiative will last one year, ending on October 16, 2019, unless the Program is renewed.
SST Program inspections are designed to run concurrently with other existing OSHA initiatives (that is, National Emphasis Programs (NEP)) and the directive specifically recognizes some hazard- and industry-based initiatives as complementary to the SST Program, including the petroleum refinery NEP. Additionally, the Program Directive states that whenever a workplace is scheduled for inspection for both the SST Program and one of OSHA’s other emphasis programs, both inspections may be scheduled at the same time.
The SST Program will involve comprehensive inspections of workplace establishments. OSHA has yet to offer a specific target number of inspections; however, during the 2015 SST Program, between 1,300 and 1,900 locations were inspected annually.
According to its Program Directive, OSHA intends to create inspection lists by identifying establishments in three different groups. Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) sites and those that have been inspected in the past 36 months may be excluded from the SST Program at the local OSHA Area Director’s discretion.
OSHA’s selection criteria for the SST Program are described below.
High-rate establishments
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OSHA will select establishments for inspection based on the required reporting in the employer’s 2016 Form 300A detailing the number employees who became sick or were injured while working during the past year. Form 300A is a mandatory reporting mechanism for companies with either 250 or more workers or 20 to 249 employees in designated highly-hazardous industries.
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Establishments with elevated Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) rates will be selected. Because DART rates vary across industries, OSHA has not set a specific threshold rate for inclusion on the inspection list; rather, according to the Directive, the agency will seek to achieve a 50:50 representation of manufacturing versus non-manufacturing establishments.
Low-rate establishments
OSHA will inspect a random selection of employers with low employee injury and illness rates. According to OSHA’s Directive, these establishments will be used to verify the reliability of Form 300A reporting.
Non-responders
OSHA will also select a random sample of establishments that were required to but failed to submit Form 300A. OSHA intends the inclusion of these establishments to discourage employers from not reporting injuries and illnesses in an attempt to avoid inspection.
Finally, the 22 states with delegated worker safety plans will be expected to establish similar programs. These state programs must be at least as effective as the federal OSHA SST Program and be available for OSHA’s review. Each of these states must submit a notice of intent indicating whether or not the state will adopt identical programs to the federal one or will develop their own. Regardless, states must have adopted a plan within six months of the issuance of the October 16, 2018, directive.
For more information, view the OSHA Program directive for the SST Program.
Client Alert 2018-220
