Established Procedures Key
OSHA Inspections:
Be Prepared!
by Steven John Fellman
NATO Washington Counsel
Periodically, an inspector
from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), a division of the Department
of Labor, will show up at a cinema and inform the manager
that he or she is there to inspect the premises for possible
OSHA violations. Such an inspection may be a regular periodic
inspection of workplaces in the region, may result from
a complaint by an employee with regard to unsafe working
conditions, or may be as a direct result of an accident
reported by the employer to OSHA.
Exhibitors should have
specific instructions for theatre managers regarding
OSHA inspections. The theatre manager
or other person authorized to deal with OSHA inspections
should be notified immediately when the inspector arrives.
The inspector should not be permitted to begin the inspection
until the authorized person from the company actually
is present.
There are three stages
in every inspection. In the initial stage, the inspector
and the authorized representative
of the theatre company have a conference. The inspector
is required to inform the theatre operator why the
inspection is being made and explain the procedure that
will be
followed. The inspector will be looking for possible
violations of
OSHA standards, such as the standard dealing with maintaining
safe walking and working surfaces in such areas as
the one behind the concession stand and in the projection
booth; standards regarding ventilation, noise, and
hazardous
or
toxic liquids, such as those which may be used for
cleaning the theatre or maintaining the theatre equipment;
standards
regarding workplace sanitation; standards regarding
the availability of first-aid and emergency medical facilities;
and standards regarding hazardous communications.
Legislative
Update
Movie Theft Now U.S. Felony
Federal Anti-Camcording
Bill Signed Into Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As widely expected [In Focus,
May 2005], President Bush signed into law April 27
the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, making
it easier for cinema owners to legally detain those
suspected of using camcorders and other recording
devices to steal motion pictures. While similar laws have been
passed by at least 21 state governments, the federal
law covers those states
that have yet to enact such measures, and gives
prosecutors in states with their own anti-camcorder
laws greater
flexibility as to which law and justice system
better suits the crime at issue.
“This is an especially
important victory for NATO’s
many members overseas,” said NATO president
John Fithian.
“By empowering U.S. cinema
owners, it is now harder for thieves to create
the unauthorized DVDs that vex
exhibitors in far-flung markets, the cinema
owners who often do not get titles as fast as their
American
counterparts,” added NATO government affairs
director G. Kendrick Macdowell.
“Members of the public
might think that camcording is funny because they
once saw it on an episode of the
Jerry Seinfeld show,” noted Motion Picture Association
of America president Dan Glickman. “But camcording
is no laughing matter. In fact, more than 90 percent
of illicit, recently released movies on DVDs come
from an unauthorized recording in a movie theatre.
There
is increasing evidence that criminal gangs are using
this method to steal movies, burn them into DVDs
and then sell them on the black-market in order to
supplement
their other illegal activities.
“This law says that the
unauthorized recording of motion pictures in a
motion picture exhibition facility
is illegal, and those who are caught doing it can be imprisoned
for up to three years. Pirates beware:
Stealing movies in a theatre is now a federal felony.”  |
OSHA will be looking
to see if theatre operators with 10 or more employees
keep an appropriate log of workplace
injuries resulting in death, loss time, restrictive
work capability, and/or medical treatment or illness.
The
OSHA
inspector will also be looking to see if there are
any violations of the “General Duties” clause,
which requires an employer to eliminate “recognized” hazards
of serious potential for death or injury that are
not addressed by a specific or performance standard.
The second stage is the
actual inspection of the theatre. Do not let the OSHA
inspector perform an
inspection
without an employee of the exhibitor walking along
with the inspector.
The inspector may note some minor violations as
the inspection is taking place. An example would be an
electrical wire
running across a work area and posing a tripping
hazard. These types of minor violations should
be
corrected
immediately as the inspection is moving forward.
When the inspection is
completed, there is a requirement that the inspector
hold a closing conference with
the employer. This is the third phase of the
inspection. The inspector
will run down the results of the inspection.
If OSHA believes that the company has violated the
Occupational
Safety and
Health Act, it must – within six months of OSHA determining
that a violation exists – issue the company
a formal citation. The citation should describe
the general nature
of the violation and the degree and circumstances
of the violation and propose a penalty. The company
shall also
be provided with a date by which it must correct
the hazard.
Normally when any theatre
owner receives a citation
from OSHA, the theatre owner will contact the
regional director’s
office and discuss the citation. It is usually
possible to negotiate a settlement with a lesser
violation and a
reduced penalty. If negotiation does not result
in a reasonable resolution of the issue, the
theatre operator can appeal
to the OSHA Review Commission and a hearing
will be scheduled before an administrative
law judge.
Importantly, once the citation is received,
the theatre owner must file notice that it
is contesting
the
citation within 15 working days of receiving
the citation. Many
employers receive a citation and then begin
negotiating a settlement. They think that the
fact that they
are negotiating a settlement constitutes a
notice to OSHA
that they are
contesting the citation. This is not correct.
If notice is not filed within the 15-day period,
the
citation
recipient will be deemed to have waived the
right to appeal.
OSHA violations can be
very serious. Every theatre company should ensure that
it has established
procedures for
dealing with OSHA inspections.
