**FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS –**

**REPRESENTATIVES OF EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES (WALKAROUND) REQUIRMENTS**

***Question #1: What is OSHA proposing in this NPRM?***

***Answer:***  OSHA is proposing to amend its Representatives of employers and employees regulation [HYPERLINK "https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/interlinking/standards/1903.8(c)"29 CFR 1903.8(c)] to clarify that a representative authorized by employees may be an employee of the employer, or a third party when they are reasonably necessary to aid in an OSHA walkaround inspection.

***Question #2: What regulation is OSHA revising?***

***Answer:*** This rulemaking is proposing revisions to OSHA’s regulation at 29 CFR 1903.8(c), which addresses who can be an employee representative on a walkaround inspection. It currently states that “[t]he representative(s) authorized by employees shall be an employee(s) of the employer. However, if in the judgment of the Compliance Safety and Health Officer, good cause has been shown why accompaniment by a third party who is not an employee of the employer (such as an industrial hygienist or a safety engineer) is reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough physical inspection of the workplace, such third party may accompany the Compliance Safety and Health Officer during the inspection.”

***Question #3: What are the proposed revisions clarifying?***

OSHA proposes to revise the first sentence to state that “representative(s) authorized by employees may be an employee of the employer or a third party.” This will clarify that the representative authorized by employees can be someone other than an employee of the employer. The second revision deletes the two examples (Industrial Hygienist and Safety Engineer) of third-party representatives who could be reasonably necessary to the inspection and clarifies that third-party representatives may aid in the inspection based upon a range of knowledge, skills, or experience beyond that obtained through formal or technical education that could aid OSHA’s inspection.

***Question #4: Why is OSHA proposing these revisions?***

***Answer:***  OSHA has preliminarily determined that the proposed changes will aid OSHA’s workplace inspections by better enabling employees to select a representative of their choice to accompany the CSHO during a physical workplace inspection. Employee representation during the walkaround inspections of workplaces is critically important to ensuring that OSHA obtains all necessary information about worksite conditions and hazards. The proposed revisions still maintain the requirement that when the representative(s) authorized by employees is not an employee of the employer, they may accompany the Compliance Safety and Health Officer during the inspection if, in the judgment of the Compliance Safety and Health Officer, good cause has been shown why their participation is reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough physical inspection of the workplace.    

***Question #5: Are there limitations on who can be a representative authorized by employees for the purpose of the walkaround inspection?***

***Answer:***In addition to the requirement that the CSHO determine that a third party representative is reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough physical inspection of the workplace (e.g., because of their relevant knowledge, skills, or experience with hazards or conditions in the workplace or similar workplaces, or language skills), under OSHA’s existing regulations, the compliance officer may deny any person the right to participate in the inspection if their conduct interferes with a fair and orderly inspection and ultimately has authority to resolve any disputes about who may serve as the employer and employee representatives. There are also limitations under existing rules that protect access to trade secrets. The proposed rule does not change these limitations. 

***Question #6: What are the costs associated with this NPRM?***

The proposed revisions to 29 CFR 1903.8(c) would not impose any added costs or burdens on employers because they would not require employers to take any action to comply with the rule.

***Question #7: What are the next steps OSHA will take on this NPRM?***

***Answer:***  OSHA is posing questions seeking public comment on the criteria and degree of deference OSHA should give to employees’ choice of representative in determining whether a third party can participate in an inspection.  The Docket (# OSHA-2023-0008) is open for comments until October 30, 2023. You may submit comments and attachments, as well as hearing requests and other information, identified by OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2023-0008, electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.