OSHA Proposed “Walk Around Rule” Clears White House Review

On August 24th, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed its review of OSHA’s Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Notice of Public Rulemaking (NPRM). The regulation could be released any day now.

While we do not have specifics about the rulemaking, we expect it will allow workers and/or their representatives to identify an individual to accompany OSHA inspectors on facility walkarounds, regardless if the individual is an employee of the employer and regardless of whether the workplace is unionized. This could change the nature of the workplace safety inspections and put OSHA in the middle of organizing campaigns and/or labor negotiations between the employer and union.

This policy was originally attempted during the Obama administration via a 2013 Letter of Interpretation, but that letter was struck down by a court as part of a suit by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and later withdrawn by the Trump administration.