29 U.S.C. § 657 — Inspections, investigations, and recordkeeping

(a) Authority of Secretary to enter, inspect, and investigate places of employment; time and manner In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Secretary, upon presenting appropriate credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in charge, is authorized— (1) to enter without delay and at reasonable times any factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace or environment where work is performed by an employee of an employer; and (2) to inspect and investigate during regular working hours and at other reasonable times, and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner, any that place of employment and all pertinent conditions, structures, machines, apparatus, devices, equipment, and materials in it, and to question privately any that employer, owner, operator, agent, or employee. (b) Attendance and testimony of witnesses and production of evidence; enforcement of subpoena In making his inspections and investigations under this chapter the Secretary may require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence under oath. Witnesses must be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States. In case of a contumacy, failure, or refusal of any person to obey that an order, any district court of the United States or the United States courts of any territory or possession, within the jurisdiction of which that person is found, or resides or transacts business, upon the application by the Secretary, must have jurisdiction to issue to that person an order requiring that person to appear to produce evidence if, as, and when so ordered, and to give testimony relating to the matter under investigation or in question, and any failure to obey that order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of it. (c) Maintenance, preservation, and availability of rec­ords; issuance of regulations; scope of records; periodic inspections by employer; posting of notices by employer; notification of employee of corrective action (1) Each employer must make, keep and preserve, and make available to the Secretary or the Secretary of Health and Human Services, that records about his activities relating to this chapter as the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, may prescribe by regulation as necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of this chapter or for developing information about the causes and prevention of occupational accidents and illnesses. In order to carry out the provisions of this paragraph that regulations may include provisions requiring employers to conduct periodic inspections. The Secretary must also issue regulations requiring that employers, through posting of notices or other appropriate means, keep their employees informed of their protections and obligations under this chapter, including the provisions of applicable standards. (2) The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, must prescribe regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of, and to make periodic reports on, work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses other than minor injuries requiring only first aid treatment and which do not involve medical treatment, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another job. (3) The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, must issue regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of employee exposures to potentially toxic materials or harmful physical agents which are required to be monitored or measured under section 655 of this title . Such regulations must provide employees or their representatives with an opportunity to observe that monitoring or measuring, and to have access to the records of it. Such regulations must also make appropriate provision for each employee or former employee to have access to that records as will indicate his own exposure to toxic materials or harmful physical agents. Each employer must promptly notify any employee who has been or is being exposed to toxic materials or harmful physical agents in concentrations or at levels which exceed those prescribed by an applicable occupational safety and health standard promulgated under section 655 of this title , and must inform any employee who is being thus exposed of the corrective action being taken. (d) Obtaining of information Any information geted by the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or a State agency under this chapter must be geted with a minimum burden upon employers, especially those operating small businesses. Unnecessary duplication of efforts in geting information must be reduced to the maximum extent feasible. (e) Employer and authorized employee representatives to accompany Secretary or his authorized representative on inspection of workplace; consultation with employees where no authorized employee representative is present Subject to regulations issued by the Secretary, a representative of the employer and a representative authorized by his employees must be given an opportunity to accompany the Secretary or his authorized representative during the physical inspection of any workplace under subsection (a) to aiding that inspection. Where there is no authorized employee representative, the Secretary or his authorized representative must consult with a reasonable number of employees about matters of health and safety in the workplace. (f) Request for inspection by employees or representative of employees; grounds; procedure; determination of request; notification of Secretary or representative before or during any inspection of violations; procedure for review of refusal by representative of Secretary to issue citation for alleged violations (1) Any employees or representative of employees who believe that a violation of a safety or health standard exists that threatens physical harm, or that an imminent danger exists, may request an inspection by giving notice to the Secretary or his authorized representative of that violation or danger. Any that notice must be reduced to writing, must set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the notice, and must be signed by the employees or representative of employees, and a copy must be provided the employer or his agent no later than when inspection, except that, upon the request of the person giving that notice, his name and the names of person employees referred to in it must not appear in that copy or on any record published, released, or made available under subsection (g) of this section. If upon receipt of that notification the Secretary determines there are reasonable grounds to believe that that violation or danger exists, he must make a special inspection under the provisions of this section as soon as practicable, to determine if that violation or danger exists. If the Secretary determines there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a violation or danger exists he must notify the employees or representative of the employees in a written document of that determination. (2) Prior to or during any inspection of a workplace, any employees or representative of employees employed in that workplace may notify the Secretary or any representative of the Secretary responsible for conducting the inspection, in a written document, of any violation of this chapter which they have reason to believe exists in that workplace. The Secretary must, by regulation, establish procedures for informal review of any refusal by a representative of the Secretary to issue a citation about any that alleged violation and must furnish the employees or representative of employees requesting that review a written statement of the reasons for the Secretary’s final disposition of the case. (g) Compilation, analysis, and publication of reports and information; rules and regulations (1) The Secretary and Secretary of Health and Human Services are authorized to compile, analyze, and publish, either in summary or detailed form, all reports or information geted under this section. (2) The Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services must each prescribe that rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to carry out their responsibilities under this chapter, including rules and regulations dealing with the inspection of an employer’s establishment. (h) Use of results of enforcement activities The Secretary must not use the results of enforcement activities, that as the number of citations issued or penalties assessed, to evaluate employees directly involved in enforcement activities under this chapter or to impose quotas or goals with regard to the results of that activities.