The SBA Office of Advocacy has scheduled a Small Business Labor Safety Roundtable for Wednesday, October 25, 2023, from 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM (ET) to discuss the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process (“Worker Walkaround”) rule.
OSHA’s proposed rule would amend its Representatives of Employers and Employees regulation to clarify that the representative(s) authorized by employees to accompany an OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) may be an employee of the employer or a third party, and that such third-party employee representative(s) may accompany the CSHO when there is “good cause” and they are “reasonably necessary to aid in the inspection.” OSHA also proposed clarifications of the relevant knowledge, skills, or experience with hazards or conditions in the workplace or similar workplaces, or language skills of third-party representative(s) authorized by employees. OSHA certified under the Regulatory Flexibility Act that the proposed rule “does not impose costs of compliance on employers”; however, small business representatives have expressed concerns about the proposed rule.
Send your RSVP to Bruce Lundegren at bruce.lundegren@sba.gov to receive a meeting link. A final agenda will be circulated prior to the meeting.
Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons and are intended to facilitate an open and frank discussion about issues of interest to small business. These meetings are off the record and not intended for press purposes. Direct quotations of presenters or attendees may not be used without direct written approval of the person(s) making the statement. All press inquiries should be sent to Chandler Baxter at chandler.baxter@sba.gov. Agendas and presentations are available to all.