Virginia Occupational Safety & Health Program

The Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Program is the Commonwealth’s counterpart to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The VOSH Program is responsible for enforcing occupational safety and health laws and regulations in the private and public sectors and also provides free consultative, outreach and training services to encourage and provide assistance to Virginia’s employers to enhance safety and health protections for their employees.

The VOSH Program also issues permits for lead and asbestos abatement projects, conducts inspections and administers the laws affecting emission of these pollutants through the Agency’s Asbestos, Lead and Demolition Notification Program.

Compliance Programs

The Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Compliance Program conducts inspections of private and public sector employers to assure compliance with the laws, standards and regulations of the Commonwealth.

VOSH may issue citations listing violations of the standards and regulations to employers, determines dates by which violations must be abated, and may propose civil monetary penalties for certain types of violations.

Inspections:

Inspections are based on general scheduling, complaints or referrals.

• General scheduling is established from high injury and illness data from your specific industry.
• If your establishment suffered a work-related fatality or injury involving the hospitalization of one or more of your employees, you are required by law to report the incident to VOSH.

Statutory Maximum Penalties:

Serious and Other-than-serious	From $15,875 to $16,287
Willful and Repeat	From $158,725 to $162,849
Failure-to-Abate	From $15,875 per day to $16,287 per day

Program Specifics

• Asbestos
• Directives
• Tree Trimming

Report a Fatality or Serious Injury

Reporting a Fatality or Catastrophe: Virginia Code § 40.1-51.1.D requires all employers, regardless of how many individuals they employ, to report any work related incident resulting in a fatality or catastrophe within eight (8) hours to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI). These reports may be submitted on the Serious Event Reporting Form. Medical events i.e. heart attacks are also required to be reported. If an employer does not learn of a fatality or catastrophe at the time that it occurs, and the incident would otherwise be reportable to DOLI, the employer is required by law to report the incident within 8 hours of the time that it is made known to any agent or employee of the employer. If an employee dies as a result of the incident, the employer is required to report the death to DOLI within 8 hours of learning of the death.

Reporting Inpatient Hospitalizations of One or More Persons, Amputations, or Loss of an Eye:  Virginia Code § 40.1-51.1.D also provides that “every employer shall report to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry within 24 hours any work-related incident resulting in (i) the inpatient hospitalization of one or more persons, (ii) an amputation, or (iii) the loss of an eye, as prescribed in the rules and regulations of the Safety and Health Codes Board.” Medical events i.e. heart attacks are also required to be reported. These reports may be submitted via Serious Event Reporting Online Form.

Employers can also report fatalities or injuries by telephone, or in‑person to the nearest VOSH Regional Office; or through the OSHA toll-free central telephone number, 1-800-321-6742.

Reports should include: Business name; names of employees affected; location and time of the incident, brief description of the incident; contact person and phone number.

Before or after normal business hours or on weekends and holidays, injuries may be reported by calling the appropriate cell phone or pager number for the nearest office. If unable to reach the local phone numbers or pagers, the State Police Duty Sergeant in Richmond, VA should be contacted at (804) 674-2026.

VOSH Regulations / Standards

The following standards are unique to the Commonwealth of Virginia and enforced by VOSH.

Virginia Unique Standards

Otherwise, most occupational safety and health regulations in the Commonwealth of Virginia are identical to Federal OSHA regulations.

1904 Recordkeeping Violations 

1910 General Industry Standards

1915, 1917 and 1918 – Maritime Standards

1926 Construction Industry Standards

1928 Agriculture Industry Standards