OSHA Response SOP

Section: Safety	Chapter: EAP	Article: OSHA Response
Issue Date: Nov 2024		Revision Date: Nov 2024

Purpose

The OSHA Response Playbook should be followed in the case that a representative of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contacts or visits any of the Great Wolf Lodges.

Definitions

OSHA Inspection - An examination of a worksite carried out by one or more dedicated compliance safety and health officers. Inspections are conducted to help both employers and employees minimize onsite hazards and mitigate the risk of workplace injuries and fatalities.

OSHA Citation - OSHA citations are not issued as a penalty for an injury or fatality. Citations are issued to address violations of OSHA standards and for safety hazards identified by the OSHA compliance officer.

OSHA Notice - A notice can be a verbal or written communication to an employer requesting information or explanations of anonymous allegations of the workplace or a communication sent by an OSHA Inspector after an Investigation. The law requires that a copy of this Notice be posted immediately in a prominent place at or near the location of the violation cited or where it will be readily observable by all affected employees. This Notice must remain posted for at least 3 working days (excluding weekends and Federal holidays), or, if later, until OSHA has indicated its investigation is closed or that the noticed violation has been abated.

OSHA Violation - Issued by OSHA when it has determined a company or employee willingly or unknowingly ignored potential and real safety hazards. A violation does not always mean an incident occurred; it can also be substantiated during the OSHA inspection process.

Fundamentals 

Although OSHA Inspections or Notices do not occur often, our expectation is that every Great Wolf Lodge continually operates in compliance with all OSHA standards and we must always be ready to be able to effectively respond to an inspection and notice. Although each situation is different, these basic steps should be done during an inspection or arrival of a notice:

1. Stay calm
2. Be politely direct
3. Call Corporate Risk Representative before engaging with OSHA on any substantive discussion.

Further guidance regarding OSHA Response fundamentals and key terms are used throughout this SOP. 

Procedures

Inspection

When an OSHA inspector arrives without prior notice to a lodge follow these important steps throughout the inspection:

1. Stay calm, do not look stressed or panicked, and continue with business as usual.

• An inspector will not only be analyzing the lodge, but also the Pack Members they see and with whom they interact.
• By continuing with business as usual Inspectors will be less likely to consider any other perceived issues they are not there to find.

2. Politely greet them and, depending on availability, have the General Manager (GM), Safety Manager (ADOA) and/or MOD escort them using the most direct path to an isolated area (like an office or conference room).

• During this time the Inspector will likely explain the reason for their visit.
• Let them get comfortable while either the GM or ADOA calls Corporate Risk.
• If the Inspector takes a photo of anything during the inspection, take the same photos as they do so we know what they will be referencing in any report. 

3. Call Becky Reynolds (Corporate Risk Director), or if unable to reach her, Kate Graves (Corporate EHS Manager), as soon as possible prior to answering any substantive questions from the Inspector.

• Provide Corporate Risk all of the information collected from the inspector so far so that the Corporate Risk Representative can give guidance, instructions, and questions to ask the Inspector.
• Corporate Risk will partner with you to determine the approach to the inspection
• If more questions throughout the inspection come up do not hesitate to call the Corporate Risk team again.

4.  Be prepared for the inspector to request certain documentation, the requests will depend on the nature of the inspection. OSHA 300 logs, current and previous year are typically requested upon any OSHA Inspection. 

• Under OSHA regulations the Lodge has four hours to provide the inspector OSHA 300 Logs and other documentation they request, but to avoid any misunderstanding ask the inspector to put all document requests in writing or in an email. We should get a clear understanding of when and where the inspector wants the documents to be produced.
• If the Inspector has requested to see a certain area of the facility, continue to take the most direct path and only show them the areas they specifically asked about (there is no need to tour the entire facility unless specifically requested).

5. When speaking to the inspector be honest and direct.

• There is no need to elaborate on anything that is answered unless specifically asked by the inspector.
• Ask any clarifying questions to the inspector if the questions are not fully understood.
• If the answer to a question is unknown at the time of the ask, let the inspector know that the team is following up on it and they will have an answer shortly.
• If the Inspector is quiet in between an answer and another question, do not try to fill the silence (this is a tactic used to try to obtain more information than they are really asking for).

6. After the inspector has left call Corporate Risk to debrief on the inspection.

Notice

When the Lodge receives an OSHA Notice (either by phone, letter, or email) follow these important steps before responding: 

1. When the Lodge receives an OSHA notice it may first come in the form of a phone call from the local OSHA office and they will give a preview of what will be on the notice. The Lodge will then be sent a written notice either by mail or email with complaints that have been reported.

• In some cases, there may not be a phone call and the lodge may just receive the letter.
• Take note of the important information within the letter (the date of Issue, the date by which the response is required, the address or email to send the response). The time to respond to these inquires is a narrow timeframe so it is imperative to quickly respond appropriately. 

2.  Once the Lodge has received the letter scan a copy of the notice (or forward via email) and send it to Becky Reynolds (Corporate Risk Director) and Kate Graves (Corporate EHS Manager). 

• After sending the copy of the notice, call Corporate Risk to discuss the response.

3. Work on building out a response to the complaints listed.  The response should address all issues raised in the OSHA Notice and be factually based rather than including opinions or subjective points. and Once a draft is completed send to Corporate Risk for formal review.  If at any point in putting together a draft response you have questions or are unsure of how to proceed, do not hesitate to contact Corporate Risk to discuss.

• Corporate Risk team will finalize the response after reviewing with legal and send back to the Lodge.

4. After the response has been finalized and sent back to the Lodge, the response must be sent to the address or email specified in the original notice.

Keep a record of the response and when it was sent to OSHA.

5. An OSHA Notice is often the result of a single complaint received by OSHA of some workplace condition and without any validation or investigation by OSHA.  Oftentimes an OSHA Notice will not result in any further investigation or action if we can provide a thorough and factual response to the complaints.  Contact Corporate Risk upon receiving any reply from OSHA to the written response (may be a letter confirming the matter is closed, or may be an OSHA Notice with additional questions). If you have not received any reply from OSHA after three weeks since providing the response, contact Corporate Risk to discuss potential follow-up.  

Violation

When the Lodge receives an OSHA Violation follow these important steps before responding:

1. Immediately upon receiving an OSHA violation via mail scan over to Corporate Risk Director.
2. Do not respond by yourself.
3. The Legal & Risk team will work with the Lodge to properly respond to the violation.

Conclusion

Although OSHA Inspections, Notices, and Violations are not regularly occurring, it is important to be prepared and know what to do in these different situations on Great Wolf property. If you continue to have questions on these topics work with Lodge Leadership and Corporate Risk.