Rhode Island § 28-20-13 - Division of Occupational Safety

§ 28-20-13. Inspection of violations.

(a) Any employee or representative of employees who believes that a violation of a safety or health code exists that threatens physical harm, or that an imminent danger exists, may request an inspection by giving notice to the director of the violation or danger. Any notice shall be reduced to writing, set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the notice, and be signed by the employee or representative of employees. Upon receipt of the notification, the director shall provide a copy to the employer or his or her agent not later than at the time of inspection, except that, upon the request of the person giving the notice, his or her name and the name of the individual employee referred to in the notice shall not appear in copy or on any record published, released, or made available. If upon receipt of the notification the director determines there are reasonable grounds to believe that the violation or danger exists, he or she shall make a special inspection in accordance with the provisions of this section as soon as practicable to determine if the violation or danger exists. If the director determines that there are not reasonable grounds to believe that a violation or danger exists, he or she shall notify the employee or representative of the employees in writing of that determination.

(b) Prior to or during any inspection of a workplace, any employee or representative of employees employed in the workplace may notify the director, in writing, of any violation of this chapter that he or she has reason to believe exists in the workplace. The director shall by regulation establish procedures for informal review of any refusal by his or her representative to issue a compliance order as to any alleged violation and shall furnish the employee or representative of employees requesting the review a written statement of the reasons for the director’s final disposition of the case.

(c) A representative of the employer and a representative authorized by the employees shall be given the opportunity to accompany the compliance inspector during a physical inspection of the workplace for the purpose of aiding the inspection. Where there is no authorized employee representative, the compliance inspector shall consult with a reasonable number of employees concerning matters of health and safety in the workplace.