The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expanding its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) to help develop stronger safety initiatives that will lower injury rates on construction sites. The program, built off self-auditing protocols, allows companies to undergo regular self-evaluations to avoid routine site inspections.

OSHA Self-Auditing Strategies for Roofing Contractors

RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney recently joined us to discuss the Department of Labor's expansion of self-audit processes, particularly focusing on OSHA's voluntary compliance programs. He explained that while self-audits can lead to citations if not handled properly, they offer opportunities for businesses to improve safety and compliance proactively.

In this exclusive episode, RC Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney provides insights on the benefits and challenges of self-audits, and emphasized the importance of proper implementation with legal consultation.

“There are some pros and cons to these self-audits and inviting OSHA out to a jobsite, and I’ve seen mixed results,” Cotney said. “Regardless, of whether you take advantage of the government’s self-auditing, or do it yourself, I think it’s an important thing and there are a variety of ways to go about it.”  

Cotney also described what was keeping his phone ringing, which lately seems to be all related to immigration. In terms of recent enforcement efforts, the construction industry has been hit hard compared to other industries and Cotney noted that while construction lobbying efforts are cohesive, they may not be as effective as those from agriculture and hospitality. He suggested that more unified advocacy might be needed for roofing and construction to make a substantial change.