OSHA Walkaround Final Rule (5/31/24)

In a final rule issued March 29, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) clarified that workers may authorize another employee or nonemployee to serve as their representative to accompany an OSHA compliance officer during a workplace inspection. The new rule takes effect May 31.
OSHA Permits Nonemployees on Premises for Inspections
SHRM | Mar 2024

Effective date: 5/31/24
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OSHA’s new rule alters the current regulation by removing the explicit regulatory requirement that an employee representative be an employee of the employer being inspected. Instead, the rule now reads that “the representative(s) authorized by employees may be an employee of the employer or a third party.”
OSHA Issues Final Rule Allowing Union Walkthroughs of Union and Non-Union Worksites: Your 7-Step Survival Guide
Fisher Phillips | Apr 2024

Second, the regulation no longer suggests that non-employee third-party representatives should be limited to individuals with formal credentials, such as safety engineers or industrial hygienists.  Instead, a Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) may permit a non-employee third-party representative to join the inspection if the third-party representative will aid the CSHO in conducting “an effective and thorough physical inspection of the workplace” by virtue of their knowledge, skills, or experience.
OSHA Updates its Worker Walkaround Representative Regulation
Littler | Apr 2024

OSHA also concluded the final walkaround rule will not increase employers’ costs or compliance burdens. The final rule will be effective on May 31, 2024.
OSHA Final Rule Clarifies Employees’ Walkaround Representative; Opens Non-Union Workplaces to Union Representatives
Squire | Apr 2024