29 U.S.C. § 658 — Citations

Page 174 TITLE 29—LABOR § 658 (d) Obtaining of information Any information obtained by the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or a State agency under this chapter shall be ob- tained with a minimum burden upon employers, especially those operating small businesses. Un- necessary duplication of efforts in obtaining in- formation shall be reduced to the maximum ex- tent feasible. (e) Employer and authorized employee rep- resentatives to accompany Secretary or his authorized representative on inspection of workplace; consultation with employees where no authorized employee representa- tive is present Subject to regulations issued by the Sec- retary, a representative of the employer and a representative authorized by his employees shall be given an opportunity to accompany the Sec- retary or his authorized representative during the physical inspection of any workplace under subsection (a) for the purpose of aiding such in- spection. Where there is no authorized employee representative, the Secretary or his authorized representative shall consult with a reasonable number of employees concerning matters of health and safety in the workplace. (f) Request for inspection by employees or rep- resentative of employees; grounds; proce- dure; determination of request; notification of Secretary or representative prior to or during any inspection of violations; proce- dure for review of refusal by representative of Secretary to issue citation for alleged vio- lations (1) Any employees or representative of em- ployees who believe that a violation of a safety or health standard exists that threatens phys- ical harm, or that an imminent danger exists, may request an inspection by giving notice to the Secretary or his authorized representative of such violation or danger. Any such notice shall be reduced to writing, shall set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the no- tice, and shall be signed by the employees or representative of employees, and a copy shall be provided the employer or his agent no later than at the time of inspection, except that, upon the request of the person giving such notice, his name and the names of individual employees re- ferred to therein shall not appear in such copy or on any record published, released, or made available pursuant to subsection (g) of this sec- tion. If upon receipt of such notification the Secretary determines there are reasonable grounds to believe that such violation or danger exists, he shall make a special inspection in ac- cordance with the provisions of this section as soon as practicable, to determine if such viola- tion or danger exists. If the Secretary deter- mines there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a violation or danger exists he shall notify the employees or representative of the employ- ees in writing of such determination. (2) Prior to or during any inspection of a work- place, any employees or representative of em- ployees employed in such workplace may notify the Secretary or any representative of the Sec- retary responsible for conducting the inspection, in writing, of any violation of this chapter which they have reason to believe exists in such workplace. The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish procedures for informal review of any refusal by a representative of the Secretary to issue a citation with respect to any such alleged violation and shall furnish the employees or rep- resentative of employees requesting such review a written statement of the reasons for the Sec- retary’s final disposition of the case. (g) Compilation, analysis, and publication of re- ports and information; rules and regulations (1) The Secretary and Secretary of Health and Human Services are authorized to compile, ana- lyze, and publish, either in summary or detailed form, all reports or information obtained under this section. (2) The Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall each prescribe such 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 establish- ment. (h) Use of results of enforcement activities The Secretary shall not use the results of en- forcement activities, such as the number of cita- tions issued or penalties assessed, to evaluate employees directly involved in enforcement ac- tivities under this chapter or to impose quotas or goals with regard to the results of such ac- tivities. (Pub. L. 91–596, § 8, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1598; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 105–198, § 1, July 16, 1998, 112 Stat. 640.) Editorial Notes CONSTITUTIONALITY For information regarding the constitutionality of certain provisions of this section, see the Table of Laws Held Unconstitutional in Whole or in Part by the Su- preme Court on the Constitution Annotated website, constitution.congress.gov. AMENDMENTS 1998—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 105–198 added subsec. (h). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ sub- stituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Wel- fare’’ in subsecs. (c), (d), and (g) pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education. § 658. Citations (a) Authority to issue; grounds; contents; notice in lieu of citation for de minimis violations If, upon inspection or investigation, the Sec- retary or his authorized representative believes that an employer has violated a requirement of section 654 of this title, of any standard, rule or order promulgated pursuant to section 655 of this title, or of any regulations prescribed pur- suant to this chapter, he shall with reasonable promptness issue a citation to the employer. Each citation shall be in writing and shall de- Page 175 TITLE 29—LABOR § 660 scribe with particularity the nature of the viola- tion, including a reference to the provision of the chapter, standard, rule, regulation, or order alleged to have been violated. In addition, the citation shall fix a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation. The Secretary may prescribe procedures for the issuance of a notice in lieu of a citation with respect to de minimis violations which have no direct or immediate re- lationship to safety or health. (b) Posting Each citation issued under this section, or a copy or copies thereof, shall be prominently posted, as prescribed in regulations issued by the Secretary, at or near each place a violation referred to in the citation occurred. (c) Time for issuance No citation may be issued under this section after the expiration of six months following the occurrence of any violation. (Pub. L. 91–596, § 9, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1601.) § 659. Enforcement procedures (a) Notification of employer of proposed assess- ment of penalty subsequent to issuance of ci- tation; time for notification of Secretary by employer of contest by employer of citation or proposed assessment; citation and pro- posed assessment as final order upon failure of employer to notify of contest and failure of employees to file notice If, after an inspection or investigation, the Secretary issues a citation under section 658(a) of this title, he shall, within a reasonable time after the termination of such inspection or in- vestigation, notify the employer by certified mail of the penalty, if any, proposed to be as- sessed under section 666 of this title and that the employer has fifteen working days within which to notify the Secretary that he wishes to con- test the citation or proposed assessment of pen- alty. If, within fifteen working days from the re- ceipt of the notice issued by the Secretary the employer fails to notify the Secretary that he intends to contest the citation or proposed as- sessment of penalty, and no notice is filed by any employee or representative of employees under subsection (c) within such time, the cita- tion and the assessment, as proposed, shall be deemed a final order of the Commission and not subject to review by any court or agency. (b) Notification of employer of failure to correct in allotted time period violation for which ci- tation was issued and proposed assessment of penalty for failure to correct; time for no- tification of Secretary by employer of contest by employer of notification of failure to cor- rect or proposed assessment; notification or proposed assessment as final order upon fail- ure of employer to notify of contest If the Secretary has reason to believe that an employer has failed to correct a violation for which a citation has been issued within the pe- riod permitted for its correction (which period shall not begin to run until the entry of a final order by the Commission in the case of any re- view proceedings under this section initiated by the employer in good faith and not solely for delay or avoidance of penalties), the Secretary shall notify the employer by certified mail of such failure and of the penalty proposed to be assessed under section 666 of this title by reason of such failure, and that the employer has fif- teen working days within which to notify the Secretary that he wishes to contest the Sec- retary’s notification or the proposed assessment of penalty. If, within fifteen working days from the receipt of notification issued by the Sec- retary, the employer fails to notify the Sec- retary that he intends to contest the notifica- tion or proposed assessment of penalty, the noti- fication and assessment, as proposed, shall be deemed a final order of the Commission and not subject to review by any court or agency. (c) Advisement of Commission by Secretary of notification of contest by employer of cita- tion or notification or of filing of notice by any employee or representative of employ- ees; hearing by Commission; orders of Com- mission and Secretary; rules of procedure If an employer notifies the Secretary that he intends to contest a citation issued under sec- tion 658(a) of this title or notification issued under subsection (a) or (b) of this section, or if, within fifteen working days of the issuance of a citation under section 658(a) of this title, any employee or representative of employees files a notice with the Secretary alleging that the pe- riod of time fixed in the citation for the abate- ment of the violation is unreasonable, the Sec- retary shall immediately advise the Commission of such notification, and the Commission shall afford an opportunity for a hearing (in accord- ance with section 554 of title 5 but without re- gard to subsection (a)(3) of such section). The Commission shall thereafter issue an order, based on findings of fact, affirming, modifying, or vacating the Secretary’s citation or proposed penalty, or directing other appropriate relief, and such order shall become final thirty days after its issuance. Upon a showing by an em- ployer of a good faith effort to comply with the abatement requirements of a citation, and that abatement has not been completed because of factors beyond his reasonable control, the Sec- retary, after an opportunity for a hearing as provided in this subsection, shall issue an order affirming or modifying the abatement require- ments in such citation. The rules of procedure prescribed by the Commission shall provide af- fected employees or representatives of affected employees an opportunity to participate as par- ties to hearings under this subsection. (Pub. L. 91–596, § 10, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1601.) § 660. Judicial review (a) Filing of petition by persons adversely af- fected or aggrieved; orders subject to review; jurisdiction; venue; procedure; conclusive- ness of record and findings of Commission; appropriate relief; finality of judgment Any person adversely affected or aggrieved by an order of the Commission issued under sub- section (c) of section 659 of this title may obtain a review of such order in any United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the vio- lation is alleged to have occurred or where the