Time Frame for Report

Unless otherwise noted, agency 2015 Chief FOIA Officer Report should address agency activities that have 

occurred since the filing of last year’s Report, which was March 17, 2014, up until the filing of the 2015 

Report (March 15, 2015). Thus, the general reporting period for the Chief FOIA Officer Reports is March 

2014 to March 2015. 

Content of 2015 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

For 2015, OIP is making a significant change from prior years' Chief FOIA Officer Reports by creating 

streamlined reporting requirements for agencies that receive a lower volume of requests, i.e., less than 

1,000 incoming requests. By providing these lower-volume agencies with separate reporting 

requirements, we can more easily address the realities and needs of agencies with smaller FOIA 

administrations.

Name of Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC)

Name and Title of your Agency's Chief FOIA Officer: Nadine Mancini, General Counsel 

OSHRC receives fewer than 1,000 requests per year and, therefore, will follow the 

reporting requirements for agencies that receive a lower volume of requests. 

Section 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. 

Please answer the following questions in order to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that 

the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. You may also include 

any additional information that illustrates how your agency is working to apply the presumption of 

openness. 

FOIA Training: 

1. Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities 

attend any FOIA training or conference during the reporting period such as that provided by the 

Department of Justice?

 Such training or events can include offerings from OIP, your own agency or another 

agency or organization.

Answer: Yes. 

2. Provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA 

responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period. 

Answer: 25% of OSHRC’s FOIA professionals (none of whom work on FOIA full time) 

attended substantive FOIA training. 
3. In the 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines, OIP asked agencies to provide a plan for 

ensuring that core, substantive FOIA training is offered to all agency FOIA professionals at 

least once each year. Please provide the status of your agency’s implementation of this plan.

 Include any successes or challenges your agency has seen in implementing your plan.

Answer: OSHRC continues to encourage agency FOIA professionals to attend the 

Department of Justice’s training sessions and roundtables, and to have those who attend 

share information with the rest of the FOIA team. 

Outreach:

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC. 

Discretionary Releases: 

4. Does your agency have a distinct process or system in place to review records for 

discretionary release?

 If so, please briefly describe this process.

 If your agency is decentralized, please specify whether all components of your agency 

have such a process or system in place?

Answer: Yes. Because of the small number of FOIA requests processed per year at 

OSHRC, our FOIA professionals are trained to promptly flag and review requested 

records for discretionary release. 

5. During the reporting period, did your agency make any discretionary releases of information? 

Answer: Yes. 

6. What exemption(s) would have covered the material released as a matter of discretion? For a 

discussion of the exemptions that allow for discretionary releases, please see OIP’s guidance on 

implementing the President’s and Attorney General’s FOIA Memoranda. 

Answer: Exemption 2. 

7. Provide a narrative description, as well as some specific examples, of the types of information 

that your agency released as a matter of discretion during the reporting year. 

Answer: During the reporting year, a document containing internal details about 

OSHRC’s charge card management plan was released. 

8. If your agency was not able to make any discretionary releases of information, please explain 

why. 
Answer: N/A. 

Other Initiatives: 

9. If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the presumption of 

openness is being applied, please describe them here.

If any of these initiatives are online, please provide links in your description. 

Answer: OSHRC actively applies the presumption of openness underlying the President’s 

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

requests. In determining whether to redact or withhold a requested record, OSHRC 

always considers the presumption of openness before making a final decision about the 

release. 

Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an Effective System 

in Place 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." It is essential that agencies 

effectively manage their FOIA program. 

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that your 

management of your FOIA program is effective and efficient. You should also include any additional 

information that that describes your agency's efforts in this area. 

Personnel:

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC. 

Processing Procedures: 

1. For Fiscal Year 2014, what was the average number of days your agency reported for 

adjudicating requests for expedited processing? Please see Section VIII.A. of your agency's 

Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report.

 Please note here if your agency did not adjudicate any requests for expedited processing 

during Fiscal Year 2014.

Answer: 8 days

2. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was 

above ten calendar days, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests 

for expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less. 
Answer: N/A.

Requester Services: 

3. Does your agency notify requesters of the mediation services offered by the Office of 

Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records 

Administration? See OIP Guidance, “Notifying Requesters of the Mediation Services Offered by 

OGIS." (July 9, 2010) 

Answer: No. OSHRC processes a small amount of requests per year and disputes with 

requesters are uncommon. Should a dispute arise, however, we would notify requesters of 

OGIS’s mediation services. 

4. When assessing fees, does your agency provide a breakdown of how FOIA fees were 

calculated and assessed to the FOIA requester? For example, does your agency explain the 

amount of fees attributable to search, review, and duplication? See OIP Guidance, “The 

Importance of Good Communication with FOIA Requesters 2.0: Improving Both the Means and 

the Content of Requester Communications.” (Nov. 22, 2013) 

Answer: Yes. OSHRC provides an invoice to requesters when FOIA fees are assessed; the 

invoice explains the amount of fees attributable to search, review, and duplication, and 

provides an hourly breakdown of those fees. When fees are assessed, OSHRC’s FOIA 

professionals also typically explain to the requester how the fees were calculated. 

5. If estimated fees estimates are particularly high, does your agency provide an explanation for 

the estimate to the requester? See id. 

Answer: Yes. In situations where fees estimates are particularly high, OSHRC provides 

the requester with an explanation beyond a simple fee breakdown. 

Other Initiatives:

6. If there are any other steps your agency has undertaken to ensure that your FOIA system 

operates efficiently and effectively, such as conducting self-assessments to find greater 

efficiencies, improving search processes, eliminating redundancy, etc., please describe them 

here. 

Answer: The OSHRC Chairman’s 2009 management initiative to enhance agency 

transparency continues to support this goal. In keeping with that initiative, as well as the 

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

FOIA professionals work diligently to continue improving the effectiveness and efficiency 

of processing FOIA requests. Examples of such efforts include: (1) staying in close contact 

with the agency offices that maintain requested records to process requests within the 

statutorily required response times; (2) utilizing OSHRC’s electronic case management 

system to improve record search capabilities when processing FOIA requests that seek 
records associated with OSHRC cases; and (3) implementing the requirements of the Plain 

Writing Act of 2010 as they relate to the agency’s FOIA program and procedures. This 

past year, the agency developed and launched an electronic, web-accessible FOIA request 

form that makes it easier for requesters to identify the records they are seeking and helps 

streamline the FOIA process. 

Section 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. 

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to increase the amount 

of material that is available on your agency websites. In addition to the questions below, you should also 

describe any additional steps taken by your agency to make and improve proactive disclosures of 

information. 

Posting Material: 

1. Does your agency have a distinct process or system in place to identify records for proactive 

disclosure? If so, please describe your agency’s process or system. 

Answer: Yes. Because of the small number of FOIA requests processed per year at 

OSHRC, our FOIA professionals are trained to flag documents that are requested multiple 

times, or documents for which we anticipate future demand, and immediately consider 

whether such materials should be proactively disclosed on our website. 

2. Does your process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff outside the FOIA 

office? If so, describe this interaction. 

Answer: Yes. When the FOIA team or other agency personnel identifies a record for 

proactive disclosure, our FOIA professionals collaborate with outside agency staff as 

needed to ensure the record is appropriate for disclosure and if so, promptly posted. 

3. Describe your agency’s process or system for identifying “frequently requested” records that 

should be posted online. 

Answer: As with identifying records for proactive disclosure, the small number of FOIA 

requests processed per year at OSHRC allows our FOIA professionals to flag documents 

that are requested multiple times, or documents for which we anticipate future demand, 

and immediately consider whether such materials should be proactively disclosed on our 

website. 

4. Provide examples of material that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past 

reporting year, including links to the posted material. 
Answer: Thirteen OSHRC orders have been posted on our website’s Open Government 

page because of anticipated public interest in these rulings: 

http://www.oshrc.gov/open/SignificantOrders.html. In addition, OSHRC continues to 

maintain a comprehensive “e-FOIA Reading Room” where records considered of public 

interest are posted: http://oshrc.gov/foia/foia_reading_room.html.

Other Initiatives: 

5. If there are any other steps your agency has taken to increase proactive disclosures, please 

describe them here. 

Answer: The Chief FOIA Officer works to maintain open lines of communication between 

the FOIA Requester Service Center and key agency personnel. Additionally, in keeping 

with the Open Government Directive issued by the Office of Management and Budget on 

December 8, 2009, OSHRC continually monitors and updates its Open Government page at 

www.data.gov. 

Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of the President's FOIA 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. 

Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is utilizing technology to improve its 

FOIA administration and the public's access to information. You should also include any additional 

information that that describes your agency's efforts in this area. 

Online Tracking of FOIA Requests and Appeals: 

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC. 

Making Material Posted Online More Useful: 

1. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information 

more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your 

agency’s website?

 Steps can include soliciting feedback on the content and presentation of posted material, 

improving search capabilities on your agency website, posting material in open formats, 

making information available through mobile applications, providing explanatory 

material, etc.

Answer: No. However, our FOIA professionals are trained to provide any voluntary 

feedback received directly from requesters to the Chief FOIA Officer for review and 
evaluation. To date, we have not received any feedback on our posting format, but 

requesters have expressed appreciation that requested materials are available in our eFOIA Reading Room or otherwise posted on our website.

2. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements.

 If your agency is already posting material in its most useful format, please describe these 

efforts.

Answer: OSHRC currently posts material on a dedicated FOIA page on our agency 

website; this material is posted in the most useful format (both PDF and HTML file types). 

Records are also posted in the same format on the website’s Open Government page. 

3. Has your agency encountered challenges that make it difficult to post records you otherwise 

would like to post? 

Answer: No.

4. If so, please briefly explain what those challenges are. 

Answer: N/A.

Use of Technology to Facilitate Processing of Requests: 

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC. 

Other Initiatives: 

5. Did your agency successfully post all four quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2014?

 Please see OIP’s guidance for posting of quarterly reports to ensure that your agency is 

following all required steps (including using the correct file type and URL structure) so 

that your quarterly reports are properly appearing on FOIA.gov. (If your reports are 

posted to your website but not appearing of FOIA.gov, please contact OIP in order to 

resolve the issue.)

Answer: Yes. 

6. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports, with information appearing on 

FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency’s plan for ensuring that such reporting 

is successful in Fiscal Year 2015. 

Answer: N/A. 

7. Do your agency's FOIA professionals use e-mail or other electronic means to communicate 

with requesters whenever feasible? See OIP Guidance, “The Importance of Good 
Communication with FOIA Requesters 2.0: Improving Both the Means and the Content of 

Requester Communications.” (Nov. 22, 2013) If yes, what are the different types of electronic 

means are utilized by your agency to communicate with requesters? 

Answer: Yes. This reporting year, OSHRC developed an electronic FOIA request form 

that we posted on our website’s FOIA page in June 2014. The form has successfully 

allowed requesters to provide all the information necessary to facilitate their FOIA request 

and automatically submit the request electronically to the FOIA Service Center. The 

requester is then sent an electronic confirmation that the FOIA Service Center has received 

the request. Requesters also frequently communicate with our FOIA Disclosure Officers 

by email to clarify requests and obtain information, such as processing status. 

8. If your agency does not communicate electronically with requesters as a default, are there any 

limitations or restrictions for the use of such means? If yes, does your agency inform requesters 

about such limitations? See id. 

Answer: N/A. 

Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests 

and Reducing Backlogs

The President and the Attorney General have emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in 

responding to requests. This section your Chief FOIA Officer Report addresses both time limits and 

backlog reduction. Backlog reduction is measured both in terms of numbers of backlogged requests or 

appeals and by looking at whether agencies closed their ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations. 

For the figures required in this Section, please use the numbers contained in the specified sections of 

your agency’s 2014 Annual FOIA Report and, when applicable, your agency’s 2013 Annual FOIA 

Report.

Simple Track: Section VII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled “FOIA Requests – 

Response Time for All Processed Requests,” includes figures that show your agency's average response 

times for processed requests. For agencies utilizing a multi-track system to process requests, there is a 

category for “simple” requests, which are those requests that are placed in the agency’s fastest (nonexpedited) track, based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested. 

1. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests? 

Answer: Yes. 

2. If so, for your agency overall in Fiscal Year 2014, was the average number of days to process 

simple requests twenty working days or fewer? 

Answer: Yes. 

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2014 that 

were placed in your simple track. 

Answer: 96.61% (57 of 59). 
4. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of days to 

process all non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer? 

Answer: N/A. 

Backlogs: Section XII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled “Backlogs of FOIA Requests and 

Administrative Appeals” shows the numbers of any backlogged requests or appeals from the fiscal 

year. You should refer to these numbers from your Annual FOIA Reports for both Fiscal Year 2013 and 

Fiscal Year 2014 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report. 

BACKLOGGED REQUESTS

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2014, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2013?

 If not, explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being 

able reduce its backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were 

contributing factors:

o An increase in the number of incoming requests

o A loss of staff

o An increase in the complexity of the requests received

Answer: N/A. 

6. If you had a request backlog please report the percentage of requests that make up the 

backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2014. If your 

agency did not receive any requests in Fiscal Year 2014 and/or has no request backlog, please 

answer with "N/A."

 To calculate your agency’s percentage, you must divide the number of backlogged 

requests reported in Section XII.A. of your Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report by the 

number of requests received in Fiscal Year 2014, which can be found in Section V.A. of 

your Annual FOIA Report. Once divided, you can multiply that number by 100 to get the 

percentage.

Answer: N/A. 

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

7. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2014, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2013?

 If not, explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being 

able reduce backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were 

contributing factors:

o An increase in the number of incoming appeal

o A loss of staff

o An increase in the complexity of the appeals received
Answer: N/A. 

8. If you had an appeal backlog please report the percentage of appeals that make up the 

backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2014. If your 

agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2014 and/or has no appeal backlog, please 

answer with "N/A."

To calculate your agency’s percentage, you must divide the number of backlogged appeals 

reported in Section XII.A. of your Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report by the number of 

appeals received in Fiscal Year 2014, which can be found in Section VI.A. of your Annual FOIA 

Report. Once divided, you can multiply that number by 100 to get the percentage. 

Answer: N/A. 

Backlog Reduction Plans: 

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC. 

Status of Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations: Section VII.E, entitled “Pending 

Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Requests,” Section VI.C.(5), entitled “Ten Oldest Pending Administrative 

Appeals,” and Section XII.C., entitled "Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations 

Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency," show the ten oldest pending requests, 

appeals, and consultations. You should refer to these numbers from your Annual FOIA Reports for both 

Fiscal Year 2013 and Fiscal Year 2014 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report. 

TEN OLDEST REQUESTS

9. In Fiscal Year 2014, did your agency close the ten oldest requests that were reported pending 

in your Fiscal Year 2013 Annual FOIA Report? 

Answer: Yes. 

10. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by the end 

of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.E of your Fiscal Year 2013 Annual FOIA Report. If 

you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that. 

 For example, if you only had seven requests listed as part of your "ten oldest" in Section 

VII.E. and you closed six of them, you should note that you closed six out of seven 

“oldest” requests. 

Answer: N/A. 

11. Of the requests your agency was able to close from your ten oldest, please indicate how 

many of these were closed because the request was withdrawn by the requester. If any were 
closed because the request was withdrawn, did you provide any interim responses prior to the 

withdrawal? 

Answer: None. 

TEN OLDEST APPEALS

12. In Fiscal Year 2014, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending 

in your Fiscal Year 2013 Annual FOIA Report? 

Answer: N/A. 

13. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close by the end of 

the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2013 Annual FOIA Report. If 

you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that. 

 For example, if you only had seven appeals listed as part of your "ten oldest" in Section 

VII.C.(5) and you closed six of them, you should note that you closed six out of seven 

“oldest” appeals. 

Answer: N/A. 

TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

14. In Fiscal Year 2014, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported 

pending in your Fiscal Year 2013 Annual FOIA Report? 

Answer: N/A. 

15. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency was able to close by the 

end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2013 Annual FOIA 

Report. If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that. 

For example, if you only had seven consultations listed as part of your "ten oldest" in Section 

XII.C. and you closed six of them, you should note that you closed six out of seven “oldest” 

consultations. 

Answer: N/A. 

Additional Information on Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations & Plans: 

16. Briefly explain any obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest requests, appeals, 

and consultations from Fiscal Year 2013. 

Answer: None. 

17. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest requests because you were waiting to 

hear back from other agencies on consultations you sent, please provide the date the request was 
initially received by your agency, the date when your agency sent the consultation, and the date 

when you last contacted the agency where the consultation was pending. 

Answer: N/A. 

18. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, please 

provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those “ten oldest” requests, appeals, 

and consultations during Fiscal Year 2015. 

Answer: N/A. 

Interim Responses: 

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC, but a 

voluntary response is provided for Question 21. 

21. Does your agency have a system in place to provide interim responses to requesters when 

appropriate? See OIP Guidance, “The Importance of Good Communication with FOIA 

Requesters.” (Mar. 1, 2010) 

Answer: Yes. OSHRC provides substantive interim responses to requesters when 

appropriate. Interim responses were provided for several FOIA requests during this 

reporting period. Specifically, OSHRC issued interim responses during complex-track 

request processing and simple-track request processing where a portion of responsive 

records was fully processed, but the remaining records required further review or 

processing, such as numerous redactions. OSHRC has found that issuing interim 

responses increases requester satisfaction with the FOIA process since the requester can 

obtain responsive records without having to wait for the request to be fully processed.

 

Use of the FOIA’s Law Enforcement Exclusions 

Did your agency invoke a statutory exclusion, 5 U.S.C. § 552(c)(1), (2), (3), during Fiscal Year 

2014?

If so, please provide the total number of times exclusions were invoked.

Answer: N/A. 

Success Story 

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2014 to increase transparency 

and improve FOIA administration, please briefly describe here at least one success story that you 
would like to highlight as emblematic of your agency’s efforts. The success story can come from 

any one of the five key areas. As noted above, these agency success stories will be highlighted 

during Sunshine Week by OIP. To facilitate this process, all agencies should use bullets to 

describe their success story and limit their text to a half page. The success story is designed to be 

a quick summary of key achievements. A complete description of all your efforts will be 

contained in the body of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

Section questions only apply to high-volume agencies. Response not required for OSHRC. 

However, a voluntary response is provided. 

Answer: During the reporting period, OSHRC successfully developed and launched an 

electronic, web-accessible FOIA request form. This accomplishment touches upon three of 

the five key areas: 

 Ensuring that there are Effective Systems for Responding to Requests 

o Increases likelihood that requesters submit complete, perfected requests, 

which in turn speeds up response time. 

o Creates a more effective system by facilitating timely receipt and tracking of 

requests to meet statutory response times. 

 Increasing the Utilization of Technology, 

o Helps OSHRC’s FOIA professionals better track incoming requests and 

confirm receipt to requesters. 

o Enhances agency’s use of technology to better communicate with requesters. 

 Improving Timeliness and Reducing Backlogs. 

o Streamlines OSHRC’s FOIA process, increasing the efficiency of processing 

and responding to requests. 

o Enables OSHRC’s FOIA professionals to more expediently review and 

process requests by having key request components logically segregated.