Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Plain Writing Act Compliance Report

April 13, 2012

I. Senior Agency Official for Plain Writing:

Richard Huberman, Chief of Staff and Legal Counsel to Chairman

 Plain Writing Contact:

John Cerveny, Deputy Executive Secretary

 Contact Information:

plain@oshrc.gov

II. Explain what specific types of agency communications have you released by 

making them available in a format that is consistent with the Plain Writing

guidelines.

Type of communications of 

document or posting. List how this 

is made available to the public

Who is the intended user and approximate 

number of potential users

What has changed by using Plain 

Writing

Guide to Review Commission 

Procedures

Available on OSHRC Website

Employers who may or may not be represented by 

legal counsel

The documents are clearer and 

more self-explanatory

Guide to Simplified Procedures

Available on OSHRC Website

Employers who may or may not be represented by

legal counsel

Employee Guide to Review 

Commission Procedures

Available on OSHRC Website

Employees who wish to participate in a Commission 

proceeding or who are contesting a proposed 

abatement period

The Freedom of Information Act 

Reference Guide

Available on OSHRC Website

Anyone who is interested in submitting a FOIA 

request to the Commission

Press Releases

Available on OSHRC Website

Anyone who is interested in Commission news and 

events

Proposed Information Collection 

on the Settlement Part program

Published in the Federal Register

Anyone who is interested in commenting on the 

survey of Settlement Part program participants
III. Inform agency staff of Plain Writing Act’s requirements:

On June 24, 2011, the Senior Agency Official for Plain Writing informed all Commission 

personnel by e-mail of the Plain Writing Act and its requirements. The email included links to 

various plain writing resources, including material posted on the Commission’s intranet.

IV. Training

 Since the last Plain Writing Act Compliance Report was published on July 13, 2011, the 

Review Commission provided or will provide the following training:

Type of Training Employees trained Date

Webinars and Online training

provided by 

plainlanguage.gov and hosted 

on the Commission’s intranet. 

Available to all Commission 

employees

Ongoing

Managing the Legal Writing 

of Others

Two employees February 6, 2012

In-house live training: Legal 

Writing at the Micro Level: 

Making Paragraphs and 

Sentences Coherent and 

Forceful

All attorneys in the Office of 

the General Counsel

February 29, 2012

Effective Writing for 

Lawyers Workshop

Three employees March 23, 2012

Effective Government 

Correspondence

Two employees March 27-28, 2012 and May 

2-3, 2012

Proofreading and Editing One employee March 27-28, 2012

Advanced Effective Writing 

for Lawyers Workshop

One employee May 4, 2012

Logic and Opinion Writing One employee May 21-24, 2012

V. Ongoing compliance/sustaining change

The Commission will stay in compliance with the Act by incorporating plain language 

considerations in all documents that the Commission issues to the public. 

VI. Agency’s plain writing website

a. Website address: http://www.oshrc.gov/open/plain_writing.html
b. Implementation of the Act: 

The Commission will be using plain writing in any updates to documents most 

often read by the general public, such as our Guide to Review Commission 

Procedures, Guide to Simplified Proceedings, Employee Guide to Review 

Commission Procedures, The Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide, 

Commission announcements and notices.

c. Link to Compliance reports: Compliance reports will be available on the 

Commission’s Plain Writing website:

http://www.oshrc.gov/open/plain_writing.html.

d. More information on Plain Writing may be obtained at the Plain Language 

Action and Information Network (PLAIN) website:

http://www.plainlanguage.gov. 

VII. Customer Satisfaction Evaluation after Experiencing Plain Writing 

Communications

The Commission set up an e-mail address (plain@oshrc.gov) through which the 

public may contact us to let us know if they have trouble understanding our 

documents or the pages on our website. The Commission will monitor that e-mail 

address and will take appropriate action on all correspondence received.