Qualifications for annual bakery oven safety inspections

[The OSHA page does not print an issue date.]

Mr. Gary E. Swymeler

Vice President of Engineering Services

The Long Company

[Recipient address omitted]

Dear Mr. Swymeler:

Thank you for your October 9 letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Directorate of Compliance Programs (DCP). This letter constitutes OSHA's interpretation only of the requirements discussed and may not be applicable to any question not delineated within your original correspondence. You wanted to know about the requirements for oven inspectors. Your paraphrased questions and our responses are provided below.

Question: Would we be approved to inspect for oven safety?

Reply: Please be advised that OSHA does not approve, endorse, promote or certify any services or consultants. The OSHA standard at 29 CFR 1910.263(l)(9)(ii) specifies that annual inspections of bakery ovens must be conducted by representatives of the oven manufacturers. OSHA considers "representatives of the oven manufacturers" to be those qualified persons who are knowledgeable of the various safety considerations and the safe operational characteristics of the equipment, whether or not they are employees of an oven manufacturer. Please refer to the enclosed letters, which also provide this guidance and can be accessed on our website.

Question: Would competent and tested plant engineers who conduct these tests "in house" meet the OSHA standard?

Reply: Please review the guidance provided in the previous paragraph.

Thank you for your interest in occupational safety and health. We hope this provides the clarification you were seeking. OSHA requirements are set by statute, standards and regulations. Our interpretation letters explain these requirements and how they apply to particular circumstances, but they cannot create additional employer obligations. This letter constitutes OSHA's interpretation of the requirements discussed. Note that our enforcement guidance may be affected by changes to OSHA rules. Also, from time to time we update our guidance in response to new information. To keep apprised of such developments, you can consult OSHA's website at http://www.osha.gov.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Office of General Industry Compliance Assistance at (202) 693-1850.

Sincerely,

Richard E. Fairfax, Director

Enclosures [The referenced letters are not reproduced on OSHA’s page.]