OSHA Announces New Weighting System for Inspections

By NERCA.

Effective October 1, 2019, OSHA unveiled a new weighting system to guide its allocation of resources for job site inspections and enforcement.

The new system dubbed the OSHA Weighting System (OWS) replaces the former Enforcement Weighting Systems (EWS) enacted in 2015. Previously, OSHA used the time it would take for an inspection as the most critical factor in determining how to conduct jobsite inspections. This allowed for more complex inspections to be conducted rather than trying to perform the most inspections possible. Now, the OWS will take into consideration other factors such as:

• Agency enforcement priorities
• Impact of inspections on workplace safety
• Hazards inspected and abated
• Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program objectives

So what does this mean for contractors? It likely means an even greater focus on the industry by OSHA since falls remain one of OSHA’s Fatal Four highest cause of jobsite deaths. The OWS will encourage OSHA inspectors to further target these high impact hazards which are the cause of over 60% of fatalities.

OSHA inspections are graded based on criteria called Enforcement Units (EU). The OWS changes how these EUs are awarded by looking at the type of inspection and ranking them according to grouped criteria.

• Group A: Criminal and Significant Cases (7 EUs)
• Group B: Post-accident Inspections (5 EUs)
• Group C: Fatal 4 Inspections (3 EUs)
• Group D: Priority Hazards (2 EUs)
• Group E: All Other Inspections (1 EU)

Conveniently, the OWS also improves OSHA’s method of self-evaluation. Under the old EWS, OSHA had reported a modest decline in total EUs from 40,199 in FY16 to 38,760 in FY18. However, under the new OWS, those numbers were increased and reversed to 60,054 in FY16 and 61,197 in FY18.

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About NERCA

NERCA is the founder of the NEREF scholarship. They are the regional association for roofing contractors covering the northeast part of the country.  Their territory includes: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Delaware.

NERCA maintains relationships with national organizations like the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and other major roof industry players. They also host one of the largest regional trade show’s in the country. Forms are available to become a member! If you need more information you can contact the association office!