OSHA formalizes home office policy
In a formalization of the approach already announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency has issued a new compliance directive stating that home offices will not be inspected for health and safety violations. The directive, which provides guidance to OSHA compliance officers who enforce such rules, also states that employers are not expected to conduct home inspections either.
The policy was first announced by OSHA administrator Charles Jeffress in Congressional testimony prepared for delivery on Jan. 25, 2000. "OSHA respects the privacy of people’s homes, and we expect that employers will too," Jeffress said.
Though OSHA will not inspect home offices under any circumstances, the agency will, when asked, follow up on complaints involving potentially hazardous factory work being performed in the home. Examples include assembling electronics, using unguarded crimping machines, or handling potentially hazardous materials without adequate protection.
Under the provisions of the directive, distributed electronically to OSHA’s regional and area offices, inspections will take place in home manufacturing and similar operations only after the agency "receives a complaint or referral that indicates that a violation of a safety or health standard exists that threatens physical harm, or that an imminent danger exists, including reports of a work-related fatality." In addition, inspections would be limited only to the employee’s actual work activities and not the entire dwelling.
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