Authorizing Legislation 29 USC 657

Page 157

TITLE 29—LABOR

of business, travel expenses (including per
diem in lieu of subsistence) as authorized by
section 5703 of title 5 for persons in the Government service employed intermittently,
while so employed.
(Pub. L. 91–596, § 7, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1597;
Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93
Stat. 695.)
CHANGE OF NAME
‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ substituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare’’ in subsecs. (a)(1), (2) and (b) pursuant to section
509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section
3508(b) of Title 20, Education.
TERMINATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES
Advisory committees in existence on January 5, 1973,
to terminate not later than the expiration of the 2-year
period following January 5, 1973, unless, in the case of
a committee established by the President or an officer
of the Federal Government, such committee is renewed
by appropriate action prior to the expiration of such 2year period, or in the case of a committee established
by the Congress, its duration is otherwise provided by
law. See section 14 of Pub. L. 92–463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86
Stat. 776, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
REFERENCES IN OTHER LAWS TO GS–16, 17, OR 18 PAY
RATES
References in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17,
or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General
Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable
under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)]
of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376
of Title 5.

§ 657. Inspections, investigations, and recordkeeping
(a) Authority of Secretary to enter, inspect, and
investigate places of employment; time and
manner
In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Secretary, upon presenting appropriate
credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in
charge, is authorized—
(1) to enter without delay and at reasonable
times any factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace or environment where work is performed by an employee of an employer; and
(2) to inspect and investigate during regular
working hours and at other reasonable times,
and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner, any such place of employment
and all pertinent conditions, structures, machines, apparatus, devices, equipment, and
materials therein, and to question privately
any such employer, owner, operator, agent, or
employee.
(b) Attendance and testimony of witnesses and
production of evidence; enforcement of subpoena
In making his inspections and investigations
under this chapter the Secretary may require
the attendance and testimony of witnesses and
the production of evidence under oath. Witnesses shall be paid the same fees and mileage
that are paid witnesses in the courts of the
United States. In case of a contumacy, failure,

§ 657

or refusal of any person to obey such an order,
any district court of the United States or the
United States courts of any territory or possession, within the jurisdiction of which such person is found, or resides or transacts business,
upon the application by the Secretary, shall
have jurisdiction to issue to such person an
order requiring such person to appear to produce
evidence if, as, and when so ordered, and to give
testimony relating to the matter under investigation or in question, and any failure to obey
such order of the court may be punished by said
court as a contempt thereof.
(c) Maintenance, preservation, and availability of
records; issuance of regulations; scope of
records; periodic inspections by employer;
posting of notices by employer; notification
of employee of corrective action
(1) Each employer shall make, keep and preserve, and make available to the Secretary or
the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
such records regarding his activities relating to
this chapter as the Secretary, in cooperation
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, may prescribe by regulation as necessary
or appropriate for the enforcement of this chapter or for developing information regarding the
causes and prevention of occupational accidents
and illnesses. In order to carry out the provisions of this paragraph such regulations may include provisions requiring employers to conduct
periodic inspections. The Secretary shall also
issue regulations requiring that employers,
through posting of notices or other appropriate
means, keep their employees informed of their
protections and obligations under this chapter,
including the provisions of applicable standards.
(2) The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall prescribe regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of, and to make periodic
reports on, work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses other than minor injuries requiring only
first aid treatment and which do not involve
medical treatment, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another job.
(3) The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall
issue regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of employee exposures to
potentially toxic materials or harmful physical
agents which are required to be monitored or
measured under section 655 of this title. Such
regulations shall provide employees or their representatives with an opportunity to observe
such monitoring or measuring, and to have access to the records thereof. Such regulations
shall also make appropriate provision for each
employee or former employee to have access to
such records as will indicate his own exposure to
toxic materials or harmful physical agents.
Each employer shall promptly notify any employee who has been or is being exposed to toxic
materials or harmful physical agents in concentrations or at levels which exceed those prescribed by an applicable occupational safety and
health standard promulgated under section 655
of this title, and shall inform any employee who
is being thus exposed of the corrective action
being taken.

§ 658

TITLE 29—LABOR

(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 obtained with a minimum burden upon employers,
especially those operating small businesses. Unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining information shall be reduced to the maximum extent feasible.
(e) Employer and authorized employee representatives to accompany Secretary or his
authorized representative on inspection of
workplace; consultation with employees
where no authorized employee representative is present
Subject to regulations issued by the Secretary, a representative of the employer and a
representative authorized by his employees shall
be given an opportunity to accompany the Secretary or his authorized representative during
the physical inspection of any workplace under
subsection (a) of this section for the purpose of
aiding such inspection. 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 representative of employees; grounds; procedure; determination of request; notification
of Secretary or representative prior to or
during any inspection of violations; procedure for review of refusal by representative
of Secretary to issue citation for alleged violations
(1) Any employees or representative of employees who believe that a violation of a safety
or health standard exists that threatens physical 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 notice, 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 referred to therein shall not appear in such copy
or on any record published, released, or made
available pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. 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 accordance with the provisions of this section as
soon as practicable, to determine if such violation or danger exists. If the Secretary determines there are no reasonable grounds to believe
that a violation or danger exists he shall notify
the employees or representative of the employees in writing of such determination.
(2) Prior to or during any inspection of a workplace, any employees or representative of employees employed in such workplace may notify
the Secretary or any representative of the Sec-

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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 representative of employees requesting such review
a written statement of the reasons for the Secretary’s final disposition of the case.
(g) Compilation, analysis, and publication of reports and information; rules and regulations
(1) The Secretary and Secretary of Health and
Human Services are authorized to compile, analyze, 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 establishment.
(h) Use of results of enforcement activities
The Secretary shall not use the results of enforcement activities, such as the number of citations issued or penalties assessed, to evaluate
employees directly involved in enforcement activities under this chapter or to impose quotas
or goals with regard to the results of such activities.
(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.)
AMENDMENTS
1998—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 105–198 added subsec. (h).
CHANGE OF NAME
‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ substituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare’’ 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 Secretary 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 pursuant to this chapter, he shall with reasonable
promptness issue a citation to the employer.
Each citation shall be in writing and shall describe with particularity the nature of the violation, 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 relationship to safety or health.