Inspections

In 1998, 5,173 health and safety inspections took place in Oregon. These inspections were conducted out of the five OR-OSHA field offices, Salem, Portland, Eugene, Medford and Bend, and the OR-OSHA central office. Some, 4,507, or 87.1 percent, of those inspections were conducted by safety officers looking for compliance with occupational safety standards, such as those covering machinery, and machine guarding, construction, personal protective equipment, and fire protection. The remaining 666 inspections focused on health standards, such as those for asbestos, water and sanitation, and hazard communication. Employees covered by these inspections totaled 152,355. This is a decrease of 16.3 percent from the 182,101 employees covered in 1997.

Inspections are conducted for different reasons. The majority of inspections are scheduled on prioritized lists created through the use of the most current injury and employment data available. An inspection may also be done in response to a valid complaint about an existing hazardous condition or in response to a referral from another agency. When an inspection is completed in which hazards have been cited and the employer is given a specific period in which to comply, a follow-up inspection may be conducted to assure that the hazards have been abated. An inspection may also be done when there is a job fatality or catastrophe. Finally an unprogrammed related inspection of an employer at a multi-employer worksite may be done if the employer is not identified in the complaint, referral, etc., which initiated the inspection. A construction site inspected due to a complaint and the second employer is inspected as a result is an example of an unprogrammed related inspection.

Table 1. Number of Inspections by office and type

Safety
The 4,507 safety inspections represent an 11.3 percent increase over the 4,051 done in 1997. Inspections in general industries (all industries except logging and construction), went up by 6.5 percent to 2,158. Inspections conducted in construction were up 16.5 percent to 2,052, and logging industry inspections were up 12.9 percent to 297. The 297 logging inspections made up 26.4 percent of the 1,126 manufacturing inspections and 6.6 percent of the total safety inspections for 1998.

Figure 1. Safety inspections conducted, FFY 1989-1998

Health
In 1998 the Oregon OSHA Division conducted a total of 666 health inspections. This is a 30.3 percent increase over the 511 conducted in 1997. The number of employees covered in 1998 rose 15.6 percent to 41,769 compared to 36,124 employees covered in 1997. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing health inspections rose 274 percent from 19 in 1997 to 71 in 1998. Manufacturing inspections rose 14.3 percent to 200 in 1998.

Figure 2. Health inspections conducted in 1989-1998

Citations, Violations and Penalties

When a compliance officer conducts an inspection and no violations of occupational standards are found, the employer is said to be “in compliance.” When violations are found, a citation is issued to the employer which lists all the violations discovered during the inspection, and any resulting penalties.

Violations of the occupational safety and health standards are categorized on the basis of the probability of an accident and the likely severity of the resulting injury or illness. Serious violations occur when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result. Repeat violations are an employer’s second or subsequent violation of the same standard. Willful violations are committed by an employer or supervisory employee who intentionally or knowingly disobeys the requirements of a standards. Other violations are cited for hazardous conditions that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm but would have a direct and immediate relationship to the safety and health of the employees. Administrative and mandatory penalty violations are included in the “other” category.

Top 10 violations
In 1998, OR-OSHA issued 3,716 citations for 11,364 violations. This is a 14.3 percent increase in the number of citations issued, and a 9.7 percent increase in the number of violations from 1997. The top 10 standards cited by compliance officers are listed in Table 2.

Safety
In 1998, 26.1 percent of the 4, 507 safety inspections found the employers to be in compliance. Out of the total 9,706 safety violations found, 5,787—59.6 percent—were in the other category. Serious violations made up another 38.0 percent, repeat violations were 2.3 percent, and willful violations made up .1 percent. The following table gives the historical trend for safety violations.

Table 3. Safety violations by type, FFY 1989-1998

The logging industry had 342 safety violations, 12.0 percent of all manufacturing safety violations, and 3.5 percent of the total safety violations found. The construction industry division had the highest number of safety violations at 3,037 or 31.3 percent of the total. Together the construction and manufacturing industries accounted for over 60 percent of all safety violations found.

Table 4 shows the proposed penalties assessed against employers for violations found during safety inspections. These are not the actual penalties paid, but the penalties assessed before any informal conference hearing is held which could reduce the proposed penalties. In 1998, proposed penalties totaled $2,127,015, a 42.0 percent decrease over 1997.

Table 4. Proposed penalties by violation type for safety, FFY 1989-1998

Health
In 1998, 29.4 percent of the 666 health inspections found the employers to be in compliance. Out of the total 1,658 health violations found, 885—53.4 percent—were in the other category. Serious violations made up another 45.5 percent, repeat violations were 1.1 percent, and there were no willful violations. The following table gives the historical trend for health violations.

Table 5. Health violations by type, FFY 1989-1998

The Agriculture industry had 157 health violations, 9.5 percent of all health violations. The manufacturing industry had the highest number of health violations at 627, or 37.8 percent of the total. Together the construction and manufacturing industries accounted for almost half of all health violations found.

Table 6 shows the proposed penalties assessed against employers for violations found during health inspections. These are not the actual penalties paid, but the penalties assessed before any informal conference hearing is held which could reduce the proposed penalties. In 1998, proposed penalties totaled $268,440, a 5.9 percent increase over 1997.

Table 6. Proposed penalties by violation type for health

Appendices

Appendix A - Safety and Health Inspections, Violations, and Proposed Penalties, FFY 1985-1998

Appendix B - Inspections by industry FFY 1998

Appendix C - Inspections by type of inspection, FFY 1989 - 1998

Appendix D - Division and rank of safety and health standards cited by type of violation, FFY 1998

Appendix E - Inspections, violations and citations by field office, FFY 1998

Appendix F - Penalties FFY 1990 - 1998

Appendix G - Inspections by county and industry group, FFY 1998

If you have questions about the information contained in this document please contact by e-mail or phone:
Michael Elliott Research Analyst, Research & Analysis Section, Information Management Division (503) 947-7359. This document was originally published in May 2000. [Printed form: 440-2107(05/00/imd)]

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