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Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Plain Writing Act Compliance Report

July 13, 2011

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 selfexplanatory

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
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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

a. The Review Commission has provided the following training:

Type of Training Number of 

employees trained

Date

In house live training: 

Advanced Legal 

Writing and Editing, 

presented by Bryan 

Garner

20 employees October 27, 2009

Webinars and Online 

training provided by 

plainlanguage.gov and 

hosted on the 

Commission’s 

network. 

Available to all 

employees

June 24, 2011

V. Ongoing compliance/sustaining change

a. Name of agency contact for compliance issues:

Senior Agency Official for Plain Writing:

Richard Huberman, Chief of Staff and Legal Counsel to Chairman

Plain Writing Contact:

John Cerveny, Deputy Executive Secretary

b. Documenting and reporting use of plain writing in agency communications:

The Commission will stay in compliance with the Act by incorporating 

plain language considerations in all documents that the Commission issues 

to the public. 
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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).

VII. Customer Satisfaction Evaluation after Experiencing Plain Writing 

Communications

The Commission has recently 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.