The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule on April 1, 2024 that allows third parties to represent employees during an OSHA inspection. In the past, only “employees of the employer” could participate in OSHA inspections, now a third party can represent the employees if the OSHA officer determines there is good cause for their presence. The third party could be involved for a variety of reasons such as safety expertise or language skills, and could include individuals from advocacy groups or unions. Following is a summary of the new rule provided by OSHA:
In this final rule, OSHA is amending its Representatives of Employers and Employees regulation to clarify that the representative(s) authorized by employees may be an employee of the employer or a third party; such third-party employee representative(s) may accompany the OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) when, in the judgment of the CSHO, good cause has been shown why they are reasonably necessary to aid in the inspection. In the final rule, OSHA also clarified that a third party may be reasonably necessary because of their relevant knowledge, skills, or experience with hazards or conditions in the workplace or similar workplaces, or language or communication skills. OSHA concluded that these clarifications aid OSHA’s workplace inspections by better enabling employees to select representative(s) of their choice to accompany the CSHO during a physical workplace inspection. Employee representation during the inspection is critically important to ensuring OSHA obtains the necessary information about worksite conditions and hazards.
Find the full details of the new rule and the rulemaking process in the Federal Register. OSHA provides information for agricultural operations on their website. Remember that OSHA standards apply to: “Agricultural establishments where eleven (11) or more employees are engaged on any given day in hand-labor operations in the field; and agricultural establishments that maintain a temporary labor camp, regardless of how many employees are engaged on any given day in hand-labor operations in the field.” Resources for OSHA compliance can be found at the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH). Dairy farms should pay special attention to NYCAMH’s OSHA Dairy LEP resources.
Time is running out! Cornell Ag Workforce Development will run the 2024 Farm Employee Compensation Benchmark until April 30th. 
By Richard Stup, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution. The post New OSHA Rule: Third parties allowed to represent employees appeared in The Ag Workforce Journal.
