29 Cfr 1903.11

rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with CFR

§ 1903.10

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–10 Edition)

shall be considered confidential for the
purpose of that section, except that
such information may be disclosed to
other officers or employees concerned
with carrying out this Act or when relevant in any proceeding under this Act.
In any such proceeding the Secretary,
the Commission, or the court shall
issue such orders as may be appropriate to protect the confidentiality of
trade secrets.’’ Section 15 of the Act is
considered a statute within the meaning of section 552(b)(3) of title 5 of the
United States Code, which exempts
from the disclosure requirements matters that are ‘‘specifically exempted
from disclosure by statute.’’
(b) Section 1905 of title 18 of the
United States Code provides: ‘‘Whoever, being an officer or employee of
the United States or of any department
or agency thereof, publishes, divulges,
discloses, or makes known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by
law any information coming to him in
the course of his employment or official duties or by reason of any examination or investigation made by, or return, report or record made to or filed
with, such department or agency or officer or employee thereof, which information concerns or relates to the trade
secrets, processes, operations, style of
work, or apparatus, or to the identity,
confidential statistical data, amount
or source of any income, profits, losses,
or expenditures of any person, firm,
partnership, corporation, or association; or permits any income return or
copy thereof or any book containing
any abstract or particulars thereof to
be seen or examined by any person except as provided by law; shall be fined
not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not
more than 1 year, or both; and shall be
removed from office or employment.’’
(c) At the commencement of an inspection, the employer may identify
areas in the establishment which contain or which might reveal a trade secret. If the Compliance Safety and
Health Officer has no clear reason to
question such identification, information obtained in such areas, including
all negatives and prints of photographs, and environmental samples,
shall be labeled ‘‘confidential—trade
secret’’ and shall not be disclosed ex-

cept in accordance with the provisions
of section 15 of the Act.
(d) Upon the request of an employer,
any authorized representative of employees under § 1903.8 in an area containing trade secrets shall be an employee in that area or an employee authorized by the employer to enter that
area. Where there is no such representative or employee, the Compliance
Safety and Health Officer shall consult
with a reasonable number of employees
who work in that area concerning matters of safety and health.
§ 1903.10 Consultation with employees.
Compliance Safety and Health Officers may consult with employees concerning matters of occupational safety
and health to the extent they deem
necessary for the conduct of an effective and thorough inspection. During
the course of an inspection, any employee shall be afforded an opportunity
to bring any violation of the Act which
he has reason to believe exists in the
workplace to the attention of the Compliance Safety and Health Officer.
§ 1903.11 Complaints by employees.
(a) Any employee or representative of
employees who believe that a violation
of the Act exists in any workplace
where such employee is employed may
request an inspection of such workplace by giving notice of the alleged
violation to the Area Director or to a
Compliance Safety and Health Officer.
Any such notice shall be reduced to
writing, shall set forth with reasonable
particularity the grounds for the notice, and shall be signed by the employee or representative of employees.
A copy shall be provided the employer
or his agent by the Area Director or
Compliance Safety and Health Officer
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
referred to therein shall not appear in
such copy or on any record published,
released, or made available by the Department of Labor.
(b) If upon receipt of such notification the Area Director determines that
the complaint meets the requirements
set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, and that there are reasonable

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

ference in which the complaining party
and the employer may orally present
their views. After considering all written and oral views presented, the Assistant Regional Director shall affirm,
modify, or reverse the determination of
the Area Director and furnish the complaining party and the employer and
written notification of this decision
and the reasons therefor. The decision
of the Assistant Regional Director
shall be final and not subject to further
review.
(b) If the Area Director determines
that an inspection is not warranted because the requirements of § 1903.11(a)
have not been met, he shall notify the
complaining party in writing of such
determination. Such determination
shall be without prejudice to the filing
of a new complaint meeting the requirements of § 1903.11(a).

grounds to believe that the alleged violation exists, he shall cause an inspection to be made as soon as practicable,
to determine if such alleged violation
exists. Inspections under this section
shall not be limited to matters referred
to in the complaint.
(c) Prior to or during any inspection
of a workplace, any employee or representative of employees employed in
such workplace may notify the Compliance Safety and Health Officer, in writing, of any violation of the Act which
they have reason to believe exists in
such workplace. Any such notice shall
comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section.
(d) Section 11(c)(1) of the Act provides: ‘‘No person shall discharge or in
any manner discriminate against any
employee because such employee has
filed any complaint or instituted or
caused to be instituted any proceeding
under or related to this Act or has testified or is about to testify in any such
proceeding or because of the exercise
by such employee on behalf of himself
or others of any right afforded by this
Act.’’

§ 1903.13 Imminent danger.
Whenever and as soon as a Compliance Safety and Health Officer concludes on the basis of an inspection
that conditions or practices exist in
any place of employment which could
reasonably be expected to cause death
or serious physical harm immediately
or before the imminence of such danger
can be eliminated through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided by
the Act, he shall inform the affected
employees and employers of the danger
and that he is recommending a civil action to restrain such conditions or
practices and for other appropriate relief in accordance with the provisions
of section 13(a) of the Act. Appropriate
citations and notices of proposed penalties may be issued with respect to an
imminent danger even though, after
being informed of such danger by the
Compliance Safety and Health Officer,
the employer immediately eliminates
the imminence of the danger and initiates steps to abate such danger.

(Approved by the Office of Management and
Budget under control number 1218–0064)
[36 FR 17850, Sept. 4, 1973, as amended at 54
FR 24333, June 7, 1989]

rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with CFR

§ 1903.14

§ 1903.12 Inspection not warranted; informal review.
(a) If the Area Director determines
that an inspection is not warranted because there are no reasonable grounds
to believe that a violation or danger
exists with respect to a complaint
under § 1903.11, he shall notify the complaining party in writing of such determination. The complaining party may
obtain review of such determination by
submitting a written statement of position with the Assistant Regional Director and, at the same time, providing
the employer with a copy of such statement by certified mail. The employer
may submit an opposing written statement of position with the Assistant Regional Director and, at the same time,
provide the complaining party with a
copy of such statement by certified
mail. Upon the request of the complaining party or the employer, the Assistant Regional Director, at his discretion, may hold an informal con-

§ 1903.14 Citations; notices of de minimis violations; policy regarding employee rescue activities.
(a) The Area Director shall review
the inspection report of the Compliance Safety and Health Officer. If, on
the basis of the report the Area Director believes that the employer has violated a requirement of section 5 of the

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