Federal Court Limits Scope of OSHA Inspection Authority

On October 9, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court decision to limit the scope of an inspection sought by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In this significant decision for employers, the court of appeals held that OSHA may not conduct a facility-wide or “wall-to-wall” inspection based on a reported accident and the employer’s OSHA 300 logs alone.1