COVID-19: To Protect Mission Critical Workers, OSHA Could Leverage Inspection Collaboration Opportunities with External Federal Agencies

Date Issued

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Submitting OIG

Department of Labor OIG

Other Participating OIGs

Department of Labor OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Department of Labor

Report Number

19-22-003-10-105

Report Type

Audit

Special Projects

Pandemic

Agency Wide

Yes

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

Funds for Better Use

Additional Details

Open Recommendations

This report has 2 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
1	Yes	$0	$0
We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health develop an OSHA outreach plan to be activated during a large-scale safety and health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic that (a) identifies external federal agencies with enforcement or oversight personnel who are active on worksites and (b) defines how OSHA will collaborate with those agencies. OSHA should consider incorporating into the plan: a process to identify and document highly visible, safety and health hazards for large-scale safety and health crises; a plan for how OSHA will conduct related outreach and training on those hazards and how to refer them to OSHA; and a tracking system for agency referrals and outcomes of those referrals, using that information to periodically inform the outreach plan on areas and types of guidance and training the agencies’ oversight and enforcement personnel need.
2	Yes	$0	$0
We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health explore mechanisms to enhance collaboration, such as MOUs or other written agreements using GAO’s seven key features for collaboration, and incorporate a process to utilize those mechanisms into the outreach plan.