California Code of Regulations
Title 8 - Industrial Relations
Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations
Chapter 3.2 - California Occupational Safety and Health Regulations (Cal/OSHA)
Subchapter 2 - Regulations of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
Article 1.5 - Employer's Declaration of Abatement and Other Documentation of Abatement-Employee Notification-Posting Requirements
Section 340.4 - Declaration of Abatement, Other Documentation, Employee Notification and Posting Requirements

(1) Abatement means action by an employer to comply with a cited standard or regulation or to eliminate a recognized hazard identified by the Division during an inspection.

(2) Abatement date means:

(3) Affected employees means those employees who are exposed to the hazard(s) identified as violation(s) in a citation.

(4) Final order date means:

(5) Movable equipment means a hand-held or non-hand-held machine or device, powered or unpowered, that is used to do work and is moved within or between worksites.

(1) Within 10 calendar days after the abatement date, the employer must certify to the Division that each cited violation has been abated, except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(2) The employer is not required to certify abatement if the OSHA Compliance Officer, during the on-site portion of the inspection:

(3) The employer's certification that abatement is complete must include, for each cited violation, in addition to the information required by paragraph (h) of this section, the date and method of abatement and a statement that affected employees and their representatives have been informed of the abatement.

(4) For serious violations the certification of abatement must be submitted under penalty of perjury as required pursuant to Labor Code section 6320(b).

NOTE: See Appendix A for sample content and form of Abatement Certification Letter.

(1) The employer must submit to the Division, along with the information on abatement certification required by paragraph (c)(3) of this section, documents demonstrating that abatement is complete for each willful or repeat violation and for any serious violation for which the Division indicates in the citation that such abatement documentation is required.

(2) Documents demonstrating that abatement is complete may include, but are not limited to, evidence of the purchase or repair of equipment, photographic or video evidence of abatement, or other written records.

(1) The Division may require an employer to submit an abatement plan for each cited violation (except non-serious violations) when the time permitted for abatement is more than 90 calendar days. If an abatement plan is required, the citation must so dictate.

(2) The employer must submit an abatement plan for each cited violation within 25 calendar days from the final order date when the citation indicates that such a plan is required. The abatement plan must identify the violation and the steps to be taken to achieve abatement, including a schedule for completing abatement and, where necessary, how employees will be protected from exposure to the violative condition in the interim until abatement is complete.

NOTE: See Appendix B for sample content and form of Abatement Plan.

(1) An employer who is required to submit an abatement plan may also be required to submit periodic progress reports for each cited violation. The citation must indicate:

(2) For each violation, the progress report must identify, as briefly as possible, the action taken to achieve abatement and the date the action was taken.

NOTE: See Appendix B for sample content and form of Progress Report.

(1) The employer must inform affected employees and their representative(s) about abatement activities covered by this section by posting a copy of each document submitted to the Division, or a summary of the document(s), near the place where the violation occurred.

(2) Where such posting does not effectively inform employees and their representatives about abatement activities (for example, for employers who have mobile work operations), the employer must:

(3) The employer must inform employees and their representatives of their right to examine and copy all abatement documents submitted to the Division.

(4) The employer must ensure that notice to employees and employee representatives is provided at the same time or before the information is provided to the Division and that abatement documents are:

(1) The employer must include, in each submission required by this section, the following information:

(2) The date of postmark is the date of submission for mailed documents. For documents transmitted by other means, the date the Division receives the document is date of submission.

(1) For serious, repeat, and willful violations involving movable equipment, the employer must attach a warning tag or a copy of the citation to the operating controls or to the cited component of equipment that is moved within the worksite or between worksites.

NOTE: Attaching a copy of the citation to the equipment will satisfy the tagging requirement of paragraph (i)(1) of this section as well as the posting requirements of section of Title 8332.4 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2) If the employer attaches a warning tag, in lieu of the citation, it must warn employees about the nature of the violation involving the equipment and identify the location of the citation issued.

NOTE: See Appendix C for sample form and content of a Warning Tag.

(3) If the violation has not already been abated, a warning tag or copy of the citation must be attached to the equipment:

(4) The employer must assure that the tag or copy of the citation attached to movable equipment is not altered, defaced, or covered by other material.

(5) The employer must assure that the tag or copy of the citation attached to movable equipment remains attached until: