OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION (OSHRC) 

CHIEF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) OFFICER REPORT 

JANUARY 21, 2009 – MARCH 1, 2010 

I. Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying the President's FOIA Memorandum and the 

Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness. 

1. Describe below the steps your agency has taken to ensure that that 

presumption is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. This section 

should include a discussion of the range of steps taken by your agency to apply this 

presumption, from publicizing the President's FOIA Memorandum and Attorney 

General's FOIA Guidelines and providing training on them, to implementing the 

presumption in response to FOIA requests and administrative appeals, with 

examples or statistics illustrating your agency's action in making discretionary 

releases of records or partial releases when full disclosure is not possible. 

OSHRC applies the presumption of openness underlying the President’s FOIA 

memorandum and Attorney General’s FOIA guidelines when processing its FOIA 

requests. Both of these documents were circulated to the members of OSHRC’s FOIA 

Requester Service Center, as well as to the heads of OSHRC departments. In addition, 

members of OSHRC’s FOIA team attended the March 26, 2009, training conference 

conducted by the Office of Information and Policy, Department of Justice. They, in turn, 

provided training to the agency’s FOIA Requester Service Center regarding how to 

specifically implement the presumption of openness to OSHRC FOIA requests. 

As an example of a discretionary disclosure motivated by the presumption of 

openness, OSHRC recently released as a responsive record an Office of General Counsel 

legal analysis pertaining to the implementation of the FOIA memoranda with respect to a 

specific FOIA request. This record could have been withheld based on the attorney-client 

privilege as incorporated by Exemption 5 of the FOIA. 

2. Report whether your agency shows an increase in the number of requests 

where records have been released in full or where records have been released in 

part when compared with those numbers in the previous year's Annual FOIA 

Report. 

OSHRC processed 57 FOIA requests in FY09, down from 74 FOIA requests in 

FY08. Of the 57 FOIA requests processed in FY09, OSHRC granted 30 in full or in part, 

whereas in FY08, OSHRC granted 35 in full or in part. The 30 releases in FY09 

represent an approximate 5% increase in the percentage of full or partial grants in FY09 

from the percentage of full or partial grants in FY08. 

 
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II. Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency has an Effective System for 

Responding to Requests

As the Attorney General emphasized in his FOIA Guidelines, “[a]pplication of 

the proper disclosure standard is only one part of ensuring transparency. Open 

government requires not just a presumption of disclosure, but also an effective 

system for responding to FOIA requests.” Describe here the steps your agency has 

taken to ensure that your system for responding to requests is effective and efficient. 

This section should include a discussion of how your agency has addressed the key 

roles played by the broad spectrum of agency personnel who work with FOIA 

professionals in responding to requests, including, in particular, steps taken to 

ensure that FOIA professionals have sufficient IT support. 

The Chairman of OSHRC implemented a management initiative in February 2009 to 

enhance agency transparency. In keeping with that initiative, as well as the President's 

FOIA Memorandum and Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines, OSHRC’s FOIA 

professionals have worked diligently to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of 

processing FOIA requests. For instance, the members of the FOIA Requester Service 

Center have worked closely with the agency’s IT department to assist with the 

implementation of new software that will support the processing of and reporting on 

FOIA requests. The FOIA Requester Service Center also stays in close contact with the 

agency offices that maintain requested records to keep within statutorily required 

response times. OSHRC also plans to revise its Regulations Implementing the FOIA and 

FOIA Reference Guide to officially allow electronic FOIA requests, and is considering 

an online FOIA request form. 

III. Steps Taken To Increase Proactive Disclosures

Both the President and Attorney General focused on the need for agencies to 

work proactively to post information online without waiting for individual requests 

to be received. Describe here the steps your agency has taken to increase the amount 

of material that is available on your agency website, including providing examples 

of proactive disclosures that have been made since issuance of the new FOIA 

Guidelines. 

Since the issuance of the new FOIA Guidelines, OSHRC has increased the amount 

of material available to the public on its website. In the agency’s FOIA electronic 

reading room, OSHRC now posts records that have been docketed in highly visible cases 

pending before the agency, proactively disclosing likely sought after records. 

Additionally, as part of the Chairman’s transparency initiative, OSHRC now posts on the 

agency’s website the decisions of its administrative law judges in cases that are pending 

on appeal before the Commission. In keeping with the Open Government Directive 

issued by the Office of Management and Budget on December 8, 2009, OSHRC also 

continually updates its new open government page at www.data.gov with the following 

three data sets: (1) monthly listing of case dockets, (2) monthly Commission activity 

reports, and (3) case briefing notices. 
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IV. Steps Taken To Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of the President's Memorandum was the direction to “use 

modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their 

Government.” In addition to using the internet to make proactive disclosures, 

agencies should also be exploring ways to utilize technology in responding to 

requests. For this section of the Chief FOIA Officer Report, please answer the 

following questions: 

1) Does your agency currently receive requests electronically? 

Yes. OSHRC has begun to accept requests by electronic mail even though its 

Regulations Implementing the FOIA and FOIA Reference Guide do not currently permit 

electronic requests. OSHRC plans to revise its Regulations Implementing the FOIA and 

its FOIA Reference Guide accordingly. OSHRC is also presently considering the 

development of an online FOIA request form. Time and resources are the chief 

impediments to establishing this mechanism. 

2) If not, what are the current impediments to your agency establishing a 

mechanism to receive requests electronically? 

N/A. 

3) Does your agency track requests electronically? 

Yes. OSHRC uses desktop software (Microsoft Word) to track FOIA requests 

and plans to transition to a new electronic tracking system for its FOIA requests. 

4) If not, what are the current impediments to your agency utilizing a system to 

track requests electronically? 

N/A. 

5) Does your agency use technology to process requests? 

Yes. OSHRC uses e-mail to communicate within the agency and with requesters, 

and utilizes desktop software to access and make copies of responsive documents when 

applicable. 

6) If not, what are the current impediments to your agency utilizing technology to 

process requests? 

N/A. 
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7) Does your agency utilize technology to prepare you agency Annual FOIA Report? 

Yes. OSHRC uses desktop software (Microsoft Word and Excel) to prepare its 

Annual FOIA Report. 

8) If not, what are the current impediments to your agency utilizing technology in 

preparing your Annual FOIA Report? 

N/A. 

V. Steps Taken to Reduce Backlogs and Improve Timeliness in Responding to 

Requests

Improvements to timeliness in responding to pending FOIA requests and 

reductions in backlogs is an ongoing agency effort. Both the President and the 

Attorney General emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in responding 

to requests. Section XII of your Annual FOIA Report includes figures that show 

your agency's backlog of pending requests and administrative appeals for the 

previous fiscal year and for this current fiscal year. Your Chief FOIA Officer 

Report should address the following elements. 

1. If you have a backlog, report here whether your backlog is decreasing. That 

reduction should be measured both in terms of the numbers of backlogged requests 

and administrative appeals that remain pending at the end of the fiscal year, and in 

terms of the age of those requests and appeals. 

OSHRC has no backlog of FOIA requests or administrative appeals. Since 

January 21, 2009, OSHRC has had no administrative appeals. 

2. If there has not been a reduction in the backlog describe why that has occurred 

and what steps your agency is taking to bring about a reduction.

N/A. 

3. Describe the steps your agency is taking to improve timeliness in responding to 

requests and to administrative appeals.

OSHRC responds to FOIA requests well within the statutory time limits. 

OSHRC’s average response time in FY09 for all processed perfected requests was 9 days, 

and its response time in FY09 for the one complex FOIA request was 28 days. To further 

improve timeliness, especially regarding complex requests, OSHRC: (1) is vigilant about 

identifying situations appropriate for proactive disclosures of records; (2) maintains close 

communication with FOIA requesters and OSHRC’s offices conducting searches for 

requested records; and (3) seeks ways to streamline the agency’s FOIA processing 

procedures. Since January 21, 2009, OSHRC has had no administrative appeals.