Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067 (2026)

Inspection of places of employment; comprehensive inspections; denial of access; warrants; safety and health consultation with employees

✓ current as of May 2026
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      654.067 Inspection of places of employment; comprehensive inspections; denial of access; warrants; safety and health consultation with employees. (1) In order to carry out the purposes of ORS 654.001 to 654.295, 654.412 to 654.423 and 654.750 to 654.780, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, upon presenting appropriate credentials to the owner, employer or agent in charge, is authorized:

      (a) To enter without delay and at reasonable times any place of employment;

      (b) To inspect and investigate during regular working hours and at other reasonable times, and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner, any such place of employment and all pertinent conditions, structures, machines, apparatus, devices, equipment and materials therein, and to question privately the owner, employer, agents or employees; and

      (c) To conduct a comprehensive inspection of any place of employment as deemed necessary by the department based upon the prior violation history of the place of employment regarding any state occupational safety or health law, regulation, standard, rule or order.

      (2) Whenever an accident investigation reveals that a violation has caused or contributed to a work-related fatality at a place of employment, the director shall conduct a comprehensive inspection of the place of employment within one year following the date on which the closing conference associated with the work-related fatality was held.

      (3) Whenever three or more willful or repeated violations occur at a place of employment within a one-year period, the director shall conduct a comprehensive inspection of the place of employment within one year following the date on which the closing conference associated with the most recent willful or repeated violation was held.

      (4) No person shall give an owner, employer, agent or employee advance notice of any inspection to be conducted under ORS 654.001 to 654.295, 654.412 to 654.423 and 654.750 to 654.780 of any place of employment without authority from the director.

      (5) Except in the case of an emergency, or of a place of employment open to the public, if the director is denied access to any place of employment for the purpose of an inspection or investigation, such inspection or investigation shall not be conducted without an inspection warrant obtained pursuant to ORS 654.202 to 654.216, or without such other authority as a court may grant in an appropriate civil proceeding. Nothing contained herein, however, is intended to affect the validity of a constitutionally authorized inspection conducted without an inspection warrant.

      (6) A representative of the employer and a representative authorized by the employees of the employer shall be given an opportunity to accompany the director during the inspection of any place of employment for the purpose of aiding such inspection. When there is no employee representative, or the employee representative is not an employee of the employer, the director should consult with a reasonable number of employees concerning matters of safety and health in the place of employment.

      (7) The representative of the employer may, at the employer’s option, be an attorney retained by the employer.

      (8) As used in this section:

      (a) “Accident investigation” means an official examination of a place of employment conducted by a compliance officer who is responsible for carrying out inspections and investigations on behalf of the department, that includes a systematic appraisal of an accident sequence to determine causal factors, corrective actions and preventative measures.

      (b) “Closing conference” means a process that informs the employer and the employee representatives, if any, of the findings resulting from an inspection of a place of employment and any other pertinent issues related to the inspection.

      (c) “Comprehensive inspection” means a substantially complete inspection of a place of employment that, in the professional judgment of the inspector who conducts the inspection, may be deemed comprehensive although not all potentially hazardous conditions, operations and practices within the place of employment are inspected. [1973 c.833 §16 (enacted in lieu of 654.047, 654.222 and 654.232); 1999 c.1017 §3; 2023 c.126 §1]

 

      654.070 [Repealed by 1973 c.833 §34 (654.290 enacted in lieu of 654.040, 654.065, 654.070, 654.075 and 654.080)]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases, 1976–2000 · leading case: State Ex Rel. Accident Prevention Div. v. Foster, 570 P.2d 398 (Or. Ct. App. 1977).
State Ex Rel. Accident Prevention Div. v. Foster, 570 P.2d 398 (Or. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 5× “The state urges that legislative standards have been adopted by enactment of ORS 654.067(1), which requires that inspections be conducted at "reasonable times and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner.”
Nygaard Logging Co. v. State ex rel. Dep't of Consum. & Bus. Servs., 995 P.2d 589 (Or. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 19× “” Based on the above reasoning, the circuit court permanently enjoined OR-OSHA from: “(i) Excluding an employer or an employer’s representative from any interviews of an employer’s employees conducted pursuant to ORS 654.067(1), unless the subject employee requests that the…”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Eslinger Logging, Inc., 967 P.2d 889 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 7× “293, which the legislature enacted two years after it adopted ORS 654.067: “Neither ORS 9.320 nor any provision in the Oregon Safe Employment Act shall be construed to deny an employer the right to be represented by an attorney or any other authorized representative designated…”
Brown v. Boise Cascade Corp., 946 P.2d 324 (Or. Ct. App. 1997). “) ORS 654.067 permits safety and health authorities to inspect the workplace premises ‘upon presenting appropriate credentials to the owner, employer or agent in charge.”
Moe v. Beck, 815 P.2d 692 (Or. 1991). · cites it 2× “) ORS 654.067 permits safety and health authorities to inspect the workplace premises “upon presenting appropriate credentials to the owner, employer or agent in charge.”
Ass'n of Oregon Loggers, Inc. v. Dep't of Ins. & Fin., 883 P.2d 859 (Or. Ct. App. 1994). “Petitioners understand two of the rules, OAR 437-01-057 and OAR 437-01-075, as allowing inspections to take place without compliance with ORS 654.067 and/or constitutional search protections.”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Don Whitaker Logging, Inc., 862 P.2d 526 (Or. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 8× “The referee held that, because the SCO had failed to show his credentials to employer before beginning his investigation, the investigation was commenced in violation of ORS 654.067 1 and, hence, the investigation and resulting citation were invalid.”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Ostlie, 902 P.2d 580 (Or. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 8× “ORS 654.067 provides: “(1) In order to carry out the purposes of ORS 654.”
Accident Prevention Div. v. Hogan, 586 P.2d 1132 (Or. Ct. App. 1978). “"That inspections at this place of employment have been made on September 23, 1974 which resulted in a citation issued involving fourteen violations of the Oregon Safety Codes.”
Saf. Occupation Saf. & Health Div. v. Fall Creek Logging Co., 905 P.2d 241 (Or. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 3× “071(1) with ORS 654.067(3) and ORS 654.206(1). OSHD may inspect an employer’s premises with the employer’s consent or with a valid inspection warrant.”
Accident Prevention Div. v. Fought & Co., Inc., 555 P.2d 472 (Or. Ct. App. 1976). “ORS 654.067(1) permits an authorized representative of the Workmen’s Compensation Board to enter and inspect any place of employment "at reasonable times”; ORS 654.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067(1) — 5 cases
State Ex Rel. Accident Prevention Div. v. Foster, 570 P.2d 398 (Or. Ct. App. 1977). “The state urges that legislative standards have been adopted by enactment of ORS 654.067(1), which requires that inspections be conducted at "reasonable times and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner.”
Nygaard Logging Co. v. State ex rel. Dep't of Consum. & Bus. Servs., 995 P.2d 589 (Or. Ct. App. 2000). “” Based on the above reasoning, the circuit court permanently enjoined OR-OSHA from: “(i) Excluding an employer or an employer’s representative from any interviews of an employer’s employees conducted pursuant to ORS 654.067(1), unless the subject employee requests that the…”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Ostlie, 902 P.2d 580 (Or. Ct. App. 1995). “ORS 654.067 provides: “(1) In order to carry out the purposes of ORS 654.”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Don Whitaker Logging, Inc., 862 P.2d 526 (Or. Ct. App. 1993). “The referee held that, because the SCO had failed to show his credentials to employer before beginning his investigation, the investigation was commenced in violation of ORS 654.067 1 and, hence, the investigation and resulting citation were invalid.”
Accident Prevention Div. v. Fought & Co., Inc., 555 P.2d 472 (Or. Ct. App. 1976). “ORS 654.067(1) permits an authorized representative of the Workmen’s Compensation Board to enter and inspect any place of employment "at reasonable times”; ORS 654.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067(1)(b) — 1 case
Nygaard Logging Co. v. State ex rel. Dep't of Consum. & Bus. Servs., 995 P.2d 589 (Or. Ct. App. 2000). “” Based on the above reasoning, the circuit court permanently enjoined OR-OSHA from: “(i) Excluding an employer or an employer’s representative from any interviews of an employer’s employees conducted pursuant to ORS 654.067(1), unless the subject employee requests that the…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067(3) — 2 cases
State Ex Rel. Accident Prevention Div. v. Foster, 570 P.2d 398 (Or. Ct. App. 1977). “The state urges that legislative standards have been adopted by enactment of ORS 654.067(1), which requires that inspections be conducted at "reasonable times and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner.”
Saf. Occupation Saf. & Health Div. v. Fall Creek Logging Co., 905 P.2d 241 (Or. Ct. App. 1995). “071(1) with ORS 654.067(3) and ORS 654.206(1). OSHD may inspect an employer’s premises with the employer’s consent or with a valid inspection warrant.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067(4) — 3 cases
Nygaard Logging Co. v. State ex rel. Dep't of Consum. & Bus. Servs., 995 P.2d 589 (Or. Ct. App. 2000). “” Based on the above reasoning, the circuit court permanently enjoined OR-OSHA from: “(i) Excluding an employer or an employer’s representative from any interviews of an employer’s employees conducted pursuant to ORS 654.067(1), unless the subject employee requests that the…”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Eslinger Logging, Inc., 967 P.2d 889 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). “293, which the legislature enacted two years after it adopted ORS 654.067: “Neither ORS 9.320 nor any provision in the Oregon Safe Employment Act shall be construed to deny an employer the right to be represented by an attorney or any other authorized representative designated…”
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Ostlie, 902 P.2d 580 (Or. Ct. App. 1995). “ORS 654.067 provides: “(1) In order to carry out the purposes of ORS 654.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067(l) — 1 case
State Ex Rel. Accident Prevention Div. v. Foster, 570 P.2d 398 (Or. Ct. App. 1977). “The state urges that legislative standards have been adopted by enactment of ORS 654.067(1), which requires that inspections be conducted at "reasonable times and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 654.067(l)(b) — 2 cases
Oregon Occupational Saf. & Health Div. v. Eslinger Logging, Inc., 967 P.2d 889 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). “293, which the legislature enacted two years after it adopted ORS 654.067: “Neither ORS 9.320 nor any provision in the Oregon Safe Employment Act shall be construed to deny an employer the right to be represented by an attorney or any other authorized representative designated…”
Nygaard Logging Co. v. State ex rel. Dep't of Consum. & Bus. Servs., 995 P.2d 589 (Or. Ct. App. 2000). “” Based on the above reasoning, the circuit court permanently enjoined OR-OSHA from: “(i) Excluding an employer or an employer’s representative from any interviews of an employer’s employees conducted pursuant to ORS 654.067(1), unless the subject employee requests that the…”
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