Manesh Rath and Taylor Johnson Quoted in Inside OSHA Article on OSHA ‘Third-Party’ Walkarounds

Keller and Heckman Partner Manesh Rath and Associate Taylor Johnson were quoted in the Inside OSHA article, “Attorneys Eye Likely Points of Contention in OSHA ‘Third-Party’ Walkarounds.” The article refers to Keller and Heckman’s April 24, 2024, OSHA 30/30 webinar, where Manesh and Taylor discussed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections and ‘third-party’ walkarounds. Manesh and Taylor pointed out what they said could be common opportunities for employers to dispute enforcement walkarounds that use one or more worker representatives not employed at the facility in question, under the agency’s new rule allowing that practice.

“Unfortunately,” said Manesh, “the outcome of this rule is that the compliance officer is hereafter going to always be challenged to properly justify their determination. So, I think that's going to be a problematic area of law for the agency, whether or not the representative who accompanies the compliance officer” is “qualified as authorized.”

Manesh continued, saying employers should “verify that this third-party representative has indeed been authorized by more than one employee before you even let them get their foot in the door.”

Taylor added that “the conduct of this representative can't interfere with a fair and orderly inspection.”

Manesh and Taylor ended the webinar by discussing what employers should do in these cases. For example, Taylor noted that employers should “apply the normal visitor policies to the third-party representative . . . so if there's areas that can’t be accessed due to trade secrets, or there's [personal protective equipment (PPE)] that you make normal visitors wear, go through all these steps as if they were a normal visitor on the worksite.”

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