California Weighs Expansion of Walkaround Inspection Rule

California is considering a worker walkaround rule that would allow union organizers or other outside parties to participate in workplace inspections.

The proposed rule is similar to a federal rule OSHA adopted in 2024. Business advocacy groups and trade organizations, including FEDA, have opposed these kinds of changes to workplace inspections because they effectively allow union organizers or competing businesses to enter a company’s facility for reasons unaffiliated with workplace safety and health. The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other business groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to block OSHA’s rule.

While the courts are considering the legality of OSHA’s rule, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) is attempting to replicate key portions for its own updated walkaround rule. The California Labor Code provides that a representative authorized by employees must be given an opportunity to accompany DIR inspectors during a workplace safety inspection. However, the proposed rule would expand the category of permissible employee representatives to any third party, regardless of whether they are a safety professional, as long as the inspector determines their participation is “reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough physical inspection.”

More than 70 business organizations, including FEDA, sent a letter to DIR officials opposing the rule on the grounds that it gives inspectors unfettered discretion to determine whether the designated participant should be allowed. “This standard contains no meaningful criteria to distinguish legitimate safety expertise from a third party with wholly unrelated interests, such as a union organizer, advocacy group, or plaintiff’s attorney seeking access to a non-union workplace,” the letter states.

If adopted, the rule would threaten employer property rights and trade secrets, and undermine the cooperative relationships between employers and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health that make safety enforcement possible. Further, business groups said the rule exceeds DIR’s statutory authority and conflicts with the National Labor Relations Act. For these reasons, business groups are urging DIR to withdraw the proposed rule.