You’re head of operations at a factory when you come to learn that the prior owner of your building had released toxic chemicals on the property. You are concerned about the safety of your workers so you immediately call OSHA to see what to do. You talk to your OSHA representative, and he does not seem very concerned about the issue, assuring you that you are not in violation of OSHA. However, you insist successfully that OSHA perform chemical testing at your facility, and they do. The test results come back and OSHA reports to you that your facility is in compliance with their standards.
A couple months later, your state environmental regulatory agency calls you about the chemical release on your property. Now they want to do chemical testing, but you assure them that your facility is safe and compliant with OSHA. They advise you that this is less of a question, and more of a we are telling you we are going to perform tests at your facility type of thing. So they come out and perform tests and report that the air and ground beneath your facility have both tested in violation of the EPA standards.
This leaves you confused, and wondering why this whole time you thought your facility had to comply with OSHA when it came to employee safety when handling chemicals. Don’t worry, you’re not crazy, you are actually correct. Your facility does have to comply with OSHA. The easiest way to think about whether or not OSHA or the EPA regulations apply is to understand that OSHA is mostly concerned with employees handling the chemicals your facility is using; whereas, the EPA regulations are mostly concerned with chemicals that are part of the environment (usually after a release).
You may also hear that the most stringent regulation prevails, which is also a good way of looking at it, because your company is required to comply with both OSHA and the EPA standards. It is helpful, though, to know who is likely to come knocking and start an investigation. Knowing who, will help you comply and voluntarily report, which can get your company off to a good standing with your regulators. Then, in turn, use that good standing to negotiate a good deal for your company.
These federal agencies also work together. If one agency is performing an inspection at your facility, they regularly refer the site to the other agency if it appears that there could be a violation outside of their agency’s jurisdiction but in the purview of the other. Accordingly, you should make sure your facility is in compliance with both the EPA regulations and the OSHA regulations at all times, but especially prior to an inspection by either agency.
