Safety Corrective Action Form
Author: Ashley Shaw, Brightmine Legal Editor
When to Use
OSHA requires employers to keep and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for all of its employees. Sometimes, though, a workplace may have a safety or health hazard despite all precautions. This may be brought to the employer's attention in several different ways. For example:
- An employee may report a hazard;
- An OSHA inspection may bring the hazard to light;
- An accident could occur because of the hazard; or
- The employer might catch the mistake through a self-created safety inspection or audit.
However a hazard is found, it is important that the hazard be quickly and correctly handled. OSHA can and will use the knowledge that an employer knew about a hazard, but did nothing about it, as proof that the violation was willful, which can lead to much higher fines.
Once an employer has made a safety correction, the action should be promptly documented. Having documentation of the correction on file allows the employer to show OSHA its attempts to create a safe and healthy workplace. In the case of an inspection, this can help convince OSHA to give lower violation levels or to give no violations at all. This form can be used to keep this documentation.
