OSHA Inspection: What to Expect and How to Prepare

An OSHA inspector shows up at your gate. You’ve got about 60 seconds to decide how you’ll handle the next few hours. Most employers freeze up because they’ve never thought through what actually happens during an OSHA inspection and what the rules say they can and can’t do.

The process is more structured than most people realize. OSHA follows a defined procedure outlined in the OSH Act of 1970. Knowing that procedure before an inspector arrives is the difference between a smooth inspection and a chaotic one that produces unnecessary citations.

What Triggers an OSHA Inspection

OSHA divides inspections into two broad categories: programmed and unprogrammed.

Programmed inspections are scheduled in advance. OSHA uses hazard data to rank industries by injury and illness rates, then targets the highest-risk employers. If your industry appears on an OSHA emphasis program list, such as the Site-Specific Targeting program for general industry or active construction emphasis programs, you’re more likely to receive one of these planned visits. You won’t get advance notice except in rare cases (and employers legally cannot give advance notice to employees that would compromise the inspection’s integrity).

Unprogrammed inspections are triggered by a specific event or complaint. These get priority over programmed visits. The five triggers are:

• Fatality or catastrophe (one or more deaths, or three or more hospitalizations from a single event)
• Worker complaint filed with OSHA
• Referral from another agency, such as a fire marshal or state health department
• Follow-up to a previous inspection where violations were cited
• Targeted industry initiative tied to a national or regional emphasis program

Fatality investigations happen fast. OSHA must be notified within 8 hours of a work-related fatality and within 24 hours of an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss. An inspector will typically arrive within 24 to 48 hours.

Complaint-based inspections are more variable. OSHA triages complaints by severity. A complaint alleging an imminent danger, such as an unguarded floor opening or exposed live wiring, will get an on-site inspection. A lower-priority complaint may be handled through a phone or fax investigation, where OSHA contacts the employer in writing and requests a response.

The Three Phases of an OSHA Inspection

Opening Conference

The inspector will present credentials and explain the reason and scope of the inspection. At this point, you can ask whether it’s a complaint-based or programmed visit. For complaint-based inspections, you’re entitled to a copy of the complaint (with the complainant’s name redacted if they requested anonymity).

You’re allowed to have your company representative, safety manager, or attorney present during the opening conference. Don’t waive this right. And don’t feel pressured to expand the scope beyond what’s stated, either. If an inspector arrives to investigate a specific complaint about trenching hazards, the inspection shouldn’t automatically widen to cover your entire facility unless the inspector observes other hazardous conditions in plain view.

Employees have the right to have an authorized representative accompany the inspector during the walkaround. In a unionized workplace, that’s typically the union safety representative. In a non-union workplace, employees can select their own representative. This representative is protected from retaliation.

Walkaround Inspection

This is the core of the inspection. The compliance officer walks through the areas covered by the inspection scope, taking notes and photographs, measuring noise levels or air contaminants if relevant, and reviewing work practices in real time.

What inspectors look for falls into four categories. Physical conditions are the most visible, things like fall protection gaps, unguarded machinery, blocked emergency exits, improper chemical storage, and electrical hazards. Work practices matter too. An inspector will watch how employees perform tasks. If a worker is on a roof without a harness while you have a written fall protection plan sitting in a binder, that’s still a violation.

Records are a significant part of any inspection. OSHA will want to see your OSHA 300 log and 300-A summary for the current year and the prior three years. They’ll also request your OSHA 301 incident reports. Don’t have your logs up to date? That’s a recordkeeping violation on top of whatever else they find. See the OSHA 300 log recordkeeping guide for how to stay current.

Training documentation is another common request. Can you show that your employees received required training, who delivered it, when, and what the training covered? Verbal “we trained everyone” carries no weight. Written records do.

Inspectors may also conduct private employee interviews. Employees have the right to speak with OSHA inspectors without supervisors or managers present. This is not optional for the employer. You can’t instruct employees not to talk to OSHA.

Closing Conference

At the end of the inspection, the compliance officer meets with you again to discuss what was found. This isn’t the official citation, but it’s a preview. The inspector will describe apparent violations, the applicable standards, and the kind of penalties that may follow.

Ask questions here. This is your chance to provide context, clarify facts, or point out controls you have in place that the inspector may not have seen. Bring your safety manager, your documentation, and stay professional. The closing conference is not the time to argue, but it is the right time to provide accurate information.

Your Rights During an OSHA Inspection

The OSH Act gives you specific rights, and they’re worth knowing.

You can request that OSHA obtain an inspection warrant before entering your facility. This is a legal right under the Fourth Amendment. OSHA can typically obtain an administrative warrant quickly without demonstrating probable cause of a violation, so exercising this right usually delays the inspection by a day or two, not indefinitely. Some employers use this time to gather documents and get their safety team in place.

Employees have the right to accompany the inspector during the walkaround. They’re also protected from any retaliation for participating in the inspection process, requesting an inspection, or exercising any right under the OSH Act.

After receiving a citation, you have 15 working days to request an informal conference with the OSHA area director. This is worth doing in almost every case. The informal conference is an opportunity to contest citations, reduce penalties, and negotiate abatement dates. Most citation settlements happen at this stage, not through formal contest proceedings.

If you don’t resolve the matter at the informal conference, you have the option to file a formal Notice of Contest with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). This initiates an administrative court proceeding.

Abatement: Fixing What OSHA Found

Citations include an abatement date, the deadline by which you must correct the hazard. Abatement periods vary based on the severity of the violation. Other-than-serious violations might get 30 days. Serious violations often get 30 to 90 days. Imminent danger conditions should be corrected immediately.

If you need more time, you can request an abatement extension before the original deadline expires. You’ll need to show you’re making a good-faith effort to fix the problem and that you have interim protective measures in place. OSHA generally grants reasonable extension requests.

Once you’ve corrected the violation, document it. Photographs, revised procedures, training records, and invoices for new equipment all serve as abatement documentation. Keep this on file. If a follow-up inspection is conducted, you’ll need to show the condition was actually corrected.

How to Prepare the Right Way

Preparation isn’t about hiding hazards. It’s about knowing where you stand so you don’t get blindsided by your own records.

Start with your OSHA 300 log. Is it current? Does it accurately reflect your recordable injuries and illnesses for the past three years? If there are entries you’re unsure about, review the recordkeeping criteria in 29 CFR 1904 before an inspector asks. Under-recording is a violation. Over-recording is a hassle you can fix by reviewing criteria carefully.

Audit your training records. Pull the documentation for your top five required training topics: hazard communication, emergency action plan, lockout/tagout, fall protection, and respiratory protection if applicable. Can you show who was trained, when, and what was covered? If not, that’s a gap to fill now.

Walk your site with the same mindset an inspector would use. Look for unguarded hazards, missing labels, blocked exits, outdated SDS sheets, and expired fire extinguisher tags. A job hazard analysis for your highest-risk tasks will tell you where to focus. Fix what you find and document the fix.

Designate who speaks for the company during an inspection. Your safety manager or a senior supervisor should be the primary point of contact, not whoever happens to be near the front gate when the inspector arrives. That person should know where your OSHA 300 logs are, who the employee representative is, and how to reach your legal counsel if needed.

Common Mistakes That Make Inspections Worse

Talking too much is a frequent problem. Volunteering information about past incidents, near misses, or areas of the facility that aren’t within the inspection scope doesn’t help you. Answer questions directly and accurately. Don’t offer more than was asked.

Arguing with the inspector accomplishes nothing. If you disagree with the inspector’s interpretation of a standard, the informal conference and formal contest process exist for exactly that purpose. Staying professional during the inspection and fighting factual or legal disputes through the right channels is always the better approach.

Failing to document your current controls is another costly mistake. If you have a fall protection program, show it. If employees were trained last month, produce the sign-in sheets. An inspection that finds a physical hazard alongside solid documentation of your safety management system generally produces better outcomes than one where the employer can’t demonstrate any system at all.

Getting an OSHA 30 or having a Certified Safety Professional on staff shows a commitment to compliance that matters in penalty reduction discussions. OSHA considers good-faith safety efforts when calculating penalty adjustments.

For more on what citations and penalties actually cost, see the OSHA fines and penalties guide.