Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission 

Plain Writing Act Compliance Report 

April 12, 2013 

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 

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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 

Commission Briefing Notices 

Available on OSHRC Website 

Anyone who is interested in the issues in cases at the 

Review Commission level 

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 April 13, 2012, the 

Review Commission provided 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 

Effective Government 

Correspondence 

Two employees May 2-3, 2012 

Advanced Effective Writing 

for Lawyers Workshop 

One employee May 4, 2012 

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

Business Writing Training One employee May 30, 2012 

Communicating for Results One employee July 23-24, 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 

September 26, 2012 

Proofreading and Grammar One employee September 27-28, 2012 

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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 

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. 

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