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Regulatory
The CSHOs will advise those attending the clos- citation and item numbers, a statement that the informa-
ing conference that a request for an informal conference tion submitted is accurate, signature of the employer or
with the OSHA area director is encouraged, as it provides employer’s authorized representative, the date and method
an opportunity to resolve disputed citations and penal- of abatement for each cited violation, and a statement that
ties without the need for litigation, which can be time-con- affected employees and their representatives have been
suming and costly. It will also allow the employer to obtain informed of the abatement.
a more complete understanding of the specific safety or Examples of documents that demonstrate that abate-
health standards that apply and of ways to correct the vio- ment is complete include but are not limited to photo-
lations; to discuss issues concerning proposed penalties, graphic or video evidence, evidence of the purchase or repair
proposed abatement dates, and issues regarding employee of equipment, evidence of actions taken to abate, bills from
safety and health practices; and to learn more about other repair services, reports or evaluations by safety and health
OSHA programs and services available. professionals describing the abatement of the hazard or a
If there are multiple citations being issued, I highly rec- report of analytical testing, documentation from the manu-
ommend that you request to the CSHOs to combine and facturer that the article repaired is within the manufacturer’s
group violations to lower the financial penalties. Combining specifications, records of training completed by employees if
citations can happen when separate violations of a single the citation is related to inadequate employee training, and a
standard having the same classification are found during the copy of program documents.
inspection. Violations may be grouped when a source of an
identified hazard involves interrelated violations of different INFORMAL CONFERENCES
standards. The violations may be grouped into a single vio- Penalties must be paid within 15 working days after the
lation thus lowering the number of individual citations and employer receives a citation and notification of penalty,
individual fines. but the employer, any affected employee, or the employee
At the end of the closing conference your resort should representative may request an “informal conference” for
have a clear understanding of what citations will be issued the purpose of discussing any issues raised by an inspec-
by OSHA. At that time every effort should be made to abate tion, citations, notice of proposed penalty, or notice of
those hazards immediately so no other employees can be intention to contest.
exposed to them. Physical proof of abatement certification is The informal conference should be requested within
required for each citation that the employer receives. 15 working days after the citation and notification of pen-
I highly recommend that your resort does not wait for alty are received via US mail. I recommend that an employer
the official notification of the penalties and citations to not pay the penalties within the 15-day period in which they
come via US Mail before abating the hazards. Abate haz- were received but instead call and schedule an informal con-
ards immediately and document the number of employee ference during this period with the OSHA area director.
hours worked, amount of money spent on abating hazards, Meeting in person is preferred for informal conferences and
time spent updating SOPs and job hazard analysis (JHA), allows better communication and clarification of the inspec-
and time spent conducting employee re-training, and then tion and citations.
submit this documentation to the OSHA area office. Again, During the informal conference employers will have a
this will build a positive partnership with the area office, chance to review citations and request for reductions in the
show a good faith effort and due diligence with your resort financial penalties up to 40 percent. I recommend that all
to reduce employee injuries, and hopefully at the requested employers do this. To pay the fines in full will take away
informal conference reduce the financial penalties with any from your resort’s bottom line, so why not make an effort to
citations. It’s better to put money into your resort’s safety sit down and make this request?
and health programs than pay the government in fines. The employer, any affected employee, or the employee
Abatement means action by an employer to comply representative may request copies of the photographs and
with a cited standard or regulation or to eliminate a rec- videotapes taken during the inspection. Photographs that
ognized hazard identified by OSHA during an inspection. support violations will be properly labeled and attached to
Employers must certify that abatement is complete for each each 1B violation.
cited violation. The written certification must include: the When the CSHO is calculating the citations, he or she
employer’s name and address, the inspection number, the will assess four penalty adjustment factors: 1) the gravity of

18 | NSAA JOURNAL | SPRING 2017