Democrats alarmed at alleged warnings to employers of ‘surprise inspections’

US lawmakers have written to the Department of Labor inquiring into reports some state safety agencies are tipping off employers before workplace inspections are conducted.

The letter from ranking Democratic members of the House committee on education and the workforce, the congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott and the congresswoman Dr Alma Adams, cites testimony from farm workers and advocates in California and a New York Times article on child labor in which an employer in South Carolina admitted to ordering workers to clean up and prepare for an inspection after receiving a tip-off about an upcoming inspection from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha).

“Cristina Gonzalez, a Madera farmworker who picks figs, testified that last August a foreman told workers to spend the first two hours of the next workday picking up trash and cleaning the bathrooms in advance of an inspection,” stated the letter on the California account.

It added in regards to the case in South Carolina, “if the employer in this news account is to be believed, this story raises questions not only about South Carolina’s compliance with the OSH [Occupational Safety and Health] Act’s requirements for state plan enforcement but also about the possibility of federal funds being used to help employers evade detection for child labor trafficking and oppressive child labor violations”.

In 2023, a lawsuit filed by South Carolina was dismissed after the state attempted to prevent Osha from increasing federal maximum fines for workplace safety violations. The Union of Southern Service Workers also filed a petition in December 2023 with federal Osha requesting that South Carolina have its authority to run its own state Osha program revoked, alleging a lack of inspections and enforcement.

The opinion stated that “surprise inspections” of workplaces by government labor safety enforcement officials are an important tool to enforce federal labor safety regulations and that federal funding to state agencies is contingent on prohibiting advance notice of inspections.

“This tool is so valuable for federal OSHA enforcement that anyone giving impermissible advance notice of an inspection can be fined and imprisoned,” the letter states.

A policy staffer with Scott’s office noted there had been longstanding challenges for Osha to ensure the adequacy and quality of state safety agencies’ work and the tools the agency has, appear to be limited. Democrats in recent years have introduced legislation to reform and modernize Osha.

The lawmakers’ letter seeks answers from the Department of Labor on the allegations, how the department would respond and resolve the allegations, and what the challenges are for the labor department to enforce state compliance with Osha.