§ 40.1-49.8 Inspections of workplace
In order to carry out the purposes of the occupational safety and health laws of the Commonwealth and any such rules, regulations, or standards adopted in pursuance of such laws, the Commissioner, upon representing appropriate credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in charge, is authorized, with the consent of the owner, operator, or agent in charge of such workplace as described in subdivision 1, or with an appropriate order or warrant:
1. To enter without delay and at reasonable times any factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace, or environment where work is performed, including any place where an individual is engaged to perform domestic service, by an employee of an employer; and
2. To inspect, investigate, and take samples 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 any such employer, owner, operator, agent, or employee.
History
This law was first created in 1979. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 533 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1979 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 1 time. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. That modification is as follows: in 1987, chapter 643.
1979, c. 533; 1987, c. 643; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 509, 513.