Guidelines for Administering Corporate-wide Settlement Agreements

Effective June, 2011, The purpose of this Instruction is to revise the guidelines for the administration of corporate-wide settlement agreements (CSAs) by OSHA. This Instruction cancels CPL 02-00-090, which was issued June 3, 1991. This Instruction also clarifies the notification, coordination, monitoring, and termination procedures for the processing of CSAs. Significant Changes include: Removed references to the Office of Field Operations and, where appropriate, replaced them with the Directorate of Enforcement Programs; References to the Field Operations Manual were updated to refer to CPL 02-00-150, the latest version of the manual, issued April 22, 2011; OSHA may initiate negotiation of CSAs. Where appropriate, these agreements may be used on a broader range of enforcement cases; particularly where an employer has or may have a significant pattern of non-compliance with the OSH Act across multiple locations; Abatement references were updated to include the Abatement Verification regulation, 29 CFR 1903.19; The CSA monitoring terminology (baseline, periodic, and follow-up monitoring) has been changed to align the procedures with the Abatement Verification regulation and OSHA procedures for monitoring and follow-up inspections; CSA monitoring will be tailored to the complexity of the agreement; Clarified National and Regional CSA procedures; Included a tool to evaluate the value of a CSA to the Agency; Mandated that each agreement include a termination date and/or sunset clause, which is not to extend beyond two years from the final order date.