Section 350.90 Representatives of Employers and Employees
a) Enforcement
Inspectors shall be in charge of inspections and
questioning of persons. A representative of the employer and a representative
authorized by the employees shall be given an opportunity to accompany the
Inspector during the physical inspection of any workplace for the purpose of
aiding the inspection. Inspectors may permit additional employer
representatives and additional representatives authorized by employees to
accompany them when they determine that additional representatives will further
aid the inspection. A different employer and employee representative may
accompany the Inspector during each different phase of an inspection if this
will not interfere with the conduct of the inspection.
b) Inspectors
shall have authority to resolve all disputes concerning the identity of the
representative authorized by the employer and employees for the purpose of this
Section. If there is no authorized representative of employees, or if the
Inspector is unable to determine with reasonable certainty who is the
representative, the Inspector shall consult with a reasonable number of
employees concerning matters of safety and health in the workplace.
c) The
representatives authorized by employees shall be employees of the employer.
However, if, in the judgment of the Inspector, good cause has been shown why
accompaniment by a third party who is not an employee of the employer (such as
an industrial hygienist or a safety engineer) is reasonably necessary to the
conduct of an effective and thorough physical inspection of the workplace, the
third party may accompany the Inspector during the inspection.
d) Inspectors
are authorized to deny the right of accompaniment under this Section to any
person whose conduct interferes with a fair and orderly inspection. The right
of accompaniment in areas containing trade secrets shall be subject to the
provisions of Section 350.100. With regard to information classified by an
agency of State government in the interest of homeland security, only persons
authorized to have access to the information may accompany an Inspector in
areas containing the information.
(Source:
Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 3518, effective February 15, 2022)