What Does
OSHA Area Director Mean?
The OSHA Area Director is an OSHA officer in charge of an OSHA Area Office. They are responsible for enforcing occupational healthy and safety regulations in the geographical area covered by their Area Office.
Safeopedia Explains OSHA Area Director
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a regulatory agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. It directs national compliance initiatives for occupational safety and health, with the aim of protecting workers and reducing the number of work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses.
Who Counts as an OSHA Area Director?
In addition to the OSHA Area Director themselves, persons who are authorized to act on their behalf can also be considered Area Directors.
The authorization to act on behalf of the Area Director can be a general delegation of an Area Director’s authority to a Compliance Safety and Health Officer, under OSHA standard 1903.22(e). It can also be a more limited delegation, such as authorizing someone to exercise the Area Director’s duties under OSHA standard 1903.14(a).
According to 1903.22(e), the term also includes any officer who exercises supervisory responsibility over an Area Director.
Enforcing the OSH Act
The Occupational Safety and Health Act covers private employees in all 50 states and all U.S. territories. It guarantees workers the right to a safe workplace, free from the threat of accidents and exposure to toxic substances. OSHA was created specifically to enforce the OSH Act and is authorized to create standards to regulate particular industries and specific workplace risks.
The Act allows states to take up this regulatory authority themselves, but only if they create a state-specific occupational health and safety regulatory authority. These state-level regulatory agencies must be submitted for approval to the Secretary of Labor.
OSHA enforces the OSH Act through its Area Directors. As such, the Area Directors are tasked with:
- Providing detailed answers to questions raised by affected parties
- Responding to complaints from employees covered under OSHA protection
- Conducting periodic workplace inspections
- Determining the type and severity of violation uncovered by inspections
- Issuing fines and penalties for confirmed health and safety violations
If a violation is found, the Area Director will issue a citation to the employer, which includes:
- Complete details of the violation
- Steps needed to correct the violation
- The date by which those measures must be in place
- The proposed penalty for failing to comply by the stated date
The employer can contest the Area Director’s citation within 15 days of it being issued. If they do so, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) will hold a hearing to determine the extent of the violation and the fine to be paid.
Compliance Officers Under Area Directors
Compliance Safety and Health Officers (or Compliance Officers for short) work under Area Directors. They are responsible for:
- Inspecting individual worksites
- Bringing compliance concerns to employers’ attention
- Counseling employers on achieving compliance
- Submitting investigation reports to the Area Director
While it is the Area Director who has the authority to cite employers for safety violations, Compliance Officers assist them in gathering the information needed for them to make an informed decision.
The compliance officers conduct two types of investigations:
- Scheduled periodic inspections as directed by Area Directors
- Inspections in response to complaints, indicators of imminent danger, or deaths on the worksite or while on the job