Agricultural Safety and Health

Agriculture makes a profound contribution to Oregon's economy, adding $3.6 billion dollars to the state's production in 2002. The Department of Consumer and Business Services, Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) would like to help keep agriculture strong by letting agricultural employers know about the many services available from Oregon's workplace safety and health agency.

Agriculture Safety Resources

Agricultural Ergonomics

Agricultural Grant programs

Dictionary of Occupational Terms: English-Spanish and Spanish-English

Oregon OSHA Agricultural Safety Publications

Consultation Assistance

Oregon OSHA consultants are available to evaluate business operations and make recommendations that may assist employers in reducing the number of hazards to which workers are exposed. The consultant's services are provided free of charge.

Inspection Exemption

The Oregon legislature in 1995 approved a law that agricultural employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt from regularly scheduled Oregon OSHA inspections, if the employer has met ALL of the following conditions:

• There has not been a safety or health complaint made to Oregon OSHA within the preceding two-year period; or there has not been a fatal accident or a serious disabling injury resulting from a violation of Oregon OSHA rules during the past two years.
• The employer, and principal supervisors of agricultural employees annually attend four hours of instruction on agricultural safety conducted or approved by Oregon OSHA. A listing of training classes is available in Oregon OSHA's Public Education Workshop Catalog, available on-line from the Oregon OSHA Web site, www.orosha.org, or by calling Oregon OSHA at 888-292-5247 (select option two).
• All agricultural activities are inspected once every four years by an individual acting in a safety consultant or loss prevention consultant capacity. Any safety violations noted by a consultant must be corrected within 90 days of the inspection. No-cost consultations provided by Oregon OSHA can be arranged on-line, or by calling our toll-free number 800-922-2689.

If the employer meets all these requirements for an inspection exemption, documentation such as training records, consultant reports, and the OSHA 300 Form should be readily accessible for review. If an Oregon OSHA compliance officer arrives at your work site for a scheduled inspection, please let them know that you have met the requirements for a small-employer exemption. The compliance officer will verify the exemption documentation and if it meets ALL exemption requirements, no inspection will be conducted.

For more information about the agricultural small employer exemption, please contact Oregon OSHA's Salem Field Office at (503) 378-3274.