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Employee Gude to Review Commission Procedures Section 2 As noted in Section 1, one of the ways you can participate in a Review Commission proceeding is by challenging the abatement period proposed by OSHA in its citation. You can do this by filing a letter known as a notice of contest. See Appendix 2 (2A and 2B) for examples. OSHA Citation Cases that come before the Review Commission arise from inspections conducted by OSHA, an agency of the U. S. Department of Labor. When OSHA finds what it believes to be a violation, it will notify the employer in writing of the alleged violation and the period of time it thinks reasonable for correction. This document is called a citation. The period of time proposed by the citation for an employer to correct each alleged violation is called the abatement period . OSHA may also propose that the employer pay a monetary penalty. Posting of Citation An employer must immediately post a copy of the citation at or near the location of the alleged violation, or in a prominent place where it can be seen by employees exposed to the hazard. The first page of a citation contains this heading: "Citation and Notification of Penalty." See Appendix 1 for an example. You may also see posted a notice to employees of an informal conference. How to Contest the Abatement Period You can contest the abatement period if you are an affected employee or an authorized employee representative (union). An affected employee is one who has been exposed to, or could be exposed to, the workplace conditions alleged in the citation to be hazardous. To challenge the abatement period, you must file a notice of contest, which is a letter stating that you are an affected employee or a union that represents affected employees, and that you believe the abatement period is unreasonable. See Appendix 2 (2A and 2B) for examples. By filing a notice of contest, you automatically become a party. However, if you are represented by a union, and the union files a notice of contest, the union will represent you even if you file your own notice of contest. Your notice of contest must be filed within 15 working days (Mondays through Fridays, excluding Federal holidays) of the employer's posting of the citation. Send your notice of contest by first class mail to the Area Director at the OSHA Office that issued the citation . The Area Director's name and address appear in the citation. Do not mail your notice of contest to the Review Commission. After receiving it, the Area Director must promptly forward your notice of contest to the Review Commission, which will assign the case a docket number. You should include this number on all papers you file in connection with the case. All cases started by an employee notice of contest are automatically expedited, which means they move more quickly than cases initiated by an employer notice of contest (see Section 3). Within ten calendar days of receiving your notice of contest, the Secretary of Labor must file a statement of reasons why the abatement period is reasonable. The Secretary of Labor oversees OSHA and is represented in Review Commission proceedings by lawyers from the Solicitor of Labor's Office. The Secretary of Labor is always a party in Review Commission proceedings. Within ten calendar days of receiving the Secretary's statement, you must file a response. As with any other document that you file with the Review Commission or judge, you must send a copy by first class mail or personally deliver a copy to your employer and any other party, which includes the Secretary of Labor. To prove that you have done this, you must file with the Review Commission or judge a certificate of service stating how and when the parties were given a copy of your response. Service of papers is discussed on page 8. See Appendix 4 for an example of a certificate of service. See List 1 on page 9 for the events that follow. Although your notice of contest may challenge only the reasonableness of the citation's proposed abatement date(s), your employer's notice of contest may challenge any aspect of the citation, such as whether a violation occurred, whether it was correctly characterized (as "serious" for example), and the reasonableness of the proposed penalty and/or abatement period. When you contest the abatement period, and the employer does not contest the citation, the employer may request to participate in the proceedings.
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