Trade Secrets

Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

ployer and employee representative
may accompany the Compliance Safety
and Health Officer during each different phase of an inspection if this
will not interfere with the conduct of
the inspection.
(b) Compliance Safety and Health Officers shall have authority to resolve
all disputes as to who is the representative authorized by the employer and
employees for the purpose of this section. If there is no authorized representative of employees, or if the
Compliance Safety and Health Officer
is unable to determine with reasonable
certainty who is such representative,
he shall consult with a reasonable
number of employees concerning matters of safety and health in the workplace.
(c) The representative(s) authorized
by employees shall be an employee(s)
of the employer. However, if in the
judgment of the Compliance Safety and
Health Officer, good cause has been
shown why accompaniment by a third
party who is not an employee of the
employer (such as an industrial hygienist or a safety engineer) is reasonably
necessary to the conduct of an effective
and thorough physical inspection of
the workplace, such third party may
accompany the Compliance Safety and
Health Officer during the inspection.
(d) Compliance Safety and Health Officers are authorized to deny the right
of accompaniment under this section
to any person whose conduct interferes
with a fair and orderly inspection. The
right of accompaniment in areas containing trade secrets shall be subject to
the provisions of § 1903.9(d). With regard
to information classified by an agency
of the U.S. Government in the interest
of national security, only persons authorized to have access to such information may accompany a Compliance
Safety and Health Officer in areas containing such information.

exposures and the attachment of personal sampling equipment such as
dosimeters, pumps, badges and other
similar devices to employees in order
to monitor their exposures.
(c) In taking photographs and samples, Compliance Safety and Health Officers shall take reasonable precautions to insure that such actions
with flash, spark-producing, or other
equipment would not be hazardous.
Compliance Safety and Health Officers
shall comply with all employer safety
and health rules and practices at the
establishment being inspected, and
they shall wear and use appropriate
protective clothing and equipment.
(d) The conduct of inspections shall
be such as to preclude unreasonable
disruption of the operations of the employer’s establishment.
(e) At the conclusion of an inspection, the Compliance Safety and Health
Officer shall confer with the employer
or his representative and informally
advise him of any apparent safety or
health violations disclosed by the inspection. During such conference, the
employer shall be afforded an opportunity to bring to the attention of the
Compliance Safety and Health Officer
any pertinent information regarding
conditions in the workplace.
(f) Inspections shall be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of
this part.
[36 FR 17850, Sept. 14, 1971, as amended at 47
FR 6533, Feb. 12, 1982; 47 FR 55481, Dec. 10,
1982]

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§ 1903.9

§ 1903.8 Representatives of employers
and employees.
(a) Compliance Safety and Health Officers shall be in charge of inspections
and questioning of persons. A representative of the employer and a representative authorized by his employees shall be given an opportunity to accompany the Compliance Safety and
Health Officer during the physical inspection of any workplace for the purpose of aiding such inspection. A Compliance Safety and Health Officer may
permit additional employer representatives and additional representatives
authorized by employees to accompany
him where he determines that such additional representatives will further
aid the inspection. A different em-

§ 1903.9 Trade secrets.
(a) Section 15 of the Act provides:
‘‘All information reported to or otherwise obtained by the Secretary or his
representative in connection with any
inspection or proceeding under this Act
which contains or which might reveal a
trade secret referred to in section 1905
of title 18 of the United States Code

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§ 1903.10

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–09 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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