So before I started my business I worked for my old boss for 10 years. He would always talk about being careful about stuff “because OSHA could show up” like they were some type of boogeyman. In those 10 years I never once saw anyone from any type of regulatory body.
So was my boss just being paranoid? What are the odds someone from OSHA actually would be around? have you ever dealt with them?
OSHA has limited manpower and prioritizes investigations at places that have had incidents, industries that have been deemed to be priority for inspections, and locations with complaints.
In my 40 years in industry I’ve seen a half dozen actual OSHA inspectors, and every fucking one of them was a green hand straight out of college with nothing but a rule book and a slap on the ass. Every time they come out and write up everything they see whether it’s actually a violation or not, and then they let the poor company they’ve just fucked over fight it all out with their bosses (last years crop of children too stupid to get real world jobs).