DRONES NOW BEING USED BY OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) started using drones during 2018, although the number of inspections in which drones have been used is relatively small.  Use of the drones by OSHA is likely to expand, but currently are most often used following accidents at work sites considered too dangerous for OSHA inspectors to enter. 

OSHA has gone so far as to direct each of its ten regions to designate a staff member as program manager for the unmanned aircraft program.  An OSHA memo sets forth plans as to how OSHA will use drones, including most importantly, the fact that the employer must agree.

Employers should definitely consider whether to agree to OSHA's use of drones, as drones are highly effective, giving OSHA inspectors a broader and more detailed view of the facility.  Even when an inspection is limited in scope, use of the drones by OSHA can lead to additional violations being found that in plain sight.  Further, the drones themselves raise safety issues including the possibility of causing damage to processes or trade secrets. 

Employers have the right to require OSHA to obtain an inspection warrant before entering or expanding an inspection.  It is usually better to at least attempt to negotiate the scope of the inspection with an OSHA inspector.  However, employers have the right to and in many cases should resist an unreasonably broad inspection, in light of OSHA's search warrant cases that have been successfully litigated by the Wimberly Lawson firm and upheld by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  USA v. Mar-Jac, Inc., No. 16-17745 (11^th Cir., 2018).