3 Ways to Ace Your Visit From OSHA

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

When the time comes for your roofing business to get a visit from OSHA, here are three things you can do to handle it well. 

Getting a visit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is not something to be taken lightly. If you do get a visit from OSHA and you are unprepared, this can cause an even bigger headache if you end up getting a citation. But fear not, if you find yourself in the middle of an OSHA inspection, there are ways you can prepare yourself for the best possible outcome. 

In an episode of our Read, Listen, Watch (RLW) series, we got to speak with Kyle Rea, special counsel at Adams and Reese, about their best advice for handling an OSHA visit. According to Kyle, there are three ways you can ace your visit from OSHA: 

1 – Stay calm 

When an OSHA compliance officer comes to your jobsite, one way to get on their good side is to remain calm. Kyle states that it can be easy to feel frustrated during this situation, especially if you are being accused of committing an OSHA violation, but it’s still best to maintain a relaxed demeanor. 

“Take a deep breath, kind of take a step back, understand why it is that they're there, what they're looking into,” he says. “Try to maintain that calm demeanor as you're communicating with them, especially during the initial kind of inspection phase.” 

2 – Be polite, yet firm 

Being calm isn’t just about keeping your cool, it’s also about being polite with the compliance officer. You don’t want to be difficult or aggressive towards them as this may not help your case in the long run. Kyle also states that you can be polite while also being firm with knowing what your rights are. For example, once you are aware of the OSHA complaint made against you, you can limit the inspection scope to where the complaint occurred. If the officer shows up to your site without the proper equipment, you are also within your rights to enforce the standards and not allow them in the area. 

“If the compliance officer doesn't have requisite equipment to enter your job site, don't let them,” Kyle says. “This person's there to enforce the standard, make them adhere to the standard. And again, I think they appreciate that in that context.” 

3 – Keep a document of everything 

Kyle recommends that every roofing company should have documentation for whatever safety plans you have in place, regardless of if OSHA is stopping by. Not only that, but you want these documents to be accessible to all your crew members. If you only have a safety plan available in English but some of your crew members speak Spanish, this will not be a good look to a compliance officer.  

“There's plenty of services, especially in today's day and age, where you can simply upload a document and they will translate the document into that language for you... If you are currently operating with only an English manual, use one of those services and have them translate it for you,” Kyle says. 

Learn more about Adams and Reese in their Coffee Shops directory or visit www.adamsandreese.com. 

Check out the entire Read, Listen, Watch episode to learn more about what to expect from an OSHA visit.