Scammers impersonating Occupational Safety & Health Association  Compliance Safety & Health Officers, otherwise known as “OSHA  CoSHOs”, is a pesky and pricey hoax that never seems to go away despite  the relative ease involved in identifying the fake OSHA CoSHO.  This  article will review some common and notorious scams, how to spot a fake  CoSHO, and what to do if a scammer is suspected of posing as an OSHA  CoSHO. 

The Inspector Is A Fake.  Now What? 

If someone purporting to be an OSHA CoSHO is suspected of being a scammer, you should:  

• Call the local police immediately
• Contact the State or Federal Bureau of Investigation
• If you haven’t already, contact your local area OSHA office
• If possible, get photographs of the suspected scammer
• Get photographs of the suspected scammer’s vehicle, including the license plate number.

Above all else, be careful.  Impersonating a state or federal official is a  big-time crime and a scammer will likely not go down easily and calmly. 

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 Can you identify the red flags in the following four sample OSHA  scams?  .  

• The most common scam involving fake CoSHOs is the Poster Scam, which is provided free of charge   ith this particular scam, fake CoSHOs typically call a business and  tells them they need to purchase and post the OSHA “It’s the Law” Poster  or the business would be fined.  Variations of the scam include  threats, if the business does not want to pay for the poster, of a full  OSHA inspection or threats of closing the business down.   

•  Another popular scam involves a fake CoSHO that shows up and shows some sort of identification, and  immediately begins the inspection.  One or more violations are pointed  out to business officials and one or more citations are written that  require immediate payment of fines.  If  the business isn’t able to pay the amount of the fines immediately, the  fake CoSHO negotiates an amount of fine that the business is able to pay  on the spot.   

• Another fake CoSHO  offered training classes, to clear up OSHA violations they said they found on job sites.  .

• Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a a fake CoSHO represented themselves as a high-ranking  OSHA hazardous waste safety instructor and inspector.  They promised  residents in the small fishing communities that lucrative employment  opportunities were available for cleaning up the oil spill –provided  they were properly trained.  However, the woman had no connections with OSHA or the oil spill cleanup  effort, and she did not have any training whatsoever in hazardous waste  safety.   The woman eventually plead guilty to criminal charges that  landed her in prison for 57 months.  

Red Flag 1:  The fake CoSHO will not show an ID or will show a bogus ID.

Upon appearing at a place of business or job site, the real CoSHO  should always immediately display his or her credentials 

OSHA CoSHOs always (or at least attempt to) hold opening and closing  conferences with the employer.  The opening conference, although brief,  covers why OSHA is at the workplace and the scope of the inspection 

OSHA CoSHOs will always support the employer’s desire to confirm the  CoSHO’s identity.  Never use a phone number a CoSHO  (real or fake) provides as a number to call to confirm their identity  –it could be a phone number to an accomplice scammer.  Always look up  the number to the closest OSHA Area Office yourself. 

OSHA CoSHOs never issue citations; they merely collect facts and  bring them back to the Area Office.  The Area Director along and staff  attorneys formulate and issue citations to employers, but always from  the Area Office in a formal letter. 

OSHA CoSHOs never issue financial penalties or collect payments.   Again, the Area Director of OSHA is in charge of setting and issuing  financial penalties to employers, not the CoSHO.  If a “CoSHO” offers a  reduction in financial penalty if the employer pays the penalty up  front, then it’s a scam. 

  Fake CoSHOs will almost always try to sell a “compliance kit,” OSHA “It’s the Law” poster, or some sort of training/service.