Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Plain Writing Act Compliance Report

April 13, 2012

I. Senior Agency Official for Plain Writing:

Richard Huberman, Chief of Staff and Legal Counsel to Chairman

Plain Writing Contact:

John Cerveny, Deputy Executive Secretary

Contact Information:

plain@oshrc.gov

II. Explain what specific types of agency communications have you released by making them available in a format that is consistent with the Plain Writing guidelines.

Type of communications of document or posting. List how this is made available to the public	Who is the intended user and approximate number of potential users	What has changed by using Plain Writing
Guide to Review Commission Procedures Available on OSHRC Website	Employers who may or may not be represented by legal counsel	The documents are clearer and more self-explanatory
Guide to Simplified Procedures Available on OSHRC Website	Employers who may or may not be represented by legal counsel
Employee Guide to Review Commission Procedures Available on OSHRC Website	Employees who wish to participate in a Commission proceeding or who are contesting a proposed abatement period
The Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide Available on OSHRC Website	Anyone who is interested in submitting a FOIA request to the Commission
Press Releases Available on OSHRC Website	Anyone who is interested in Commission news and events
Proposed Information Collection on the Settlement Part program Published in the Federal Register	Anyone who is interested in commenting on the survey of Settlement Part program participants

III. Inform agency staff of Plain Writing Act’s requirements:

On June 24, 2011, the Senior Agency Official for Plain Writing informed all Commission personnel by e-mail of the Plain Writing Act and its requirements. The email included links to various plain writing resources, including material posted on the Commission’s intranet.

IV. Training

Since the last Plain Writing Act Compliance Report was published on July 13, 2011, the Review Commission provided or will provide the following training:

Type of Training	Employees trained	Date
Webinars and Online training provided by plainlanguage.gov and hosted on the Commission’s intranet.	Available to all Commission employees	Ongoing
Managing the Legal Writing of Others	Two employees	February 6, 2012
In-house live training: Legal Writing at the Micro Level: Making Paragraphs and Sentences Coherent and Forceful	All attorneys in the Office of the General Counsel	February 29, 2012
Effective Writing for Lawyers Workshop	Three employees	March 23, 2012
Effective Government Correspondence	Two employees	March 27-28, 2012 and May 2-3, 2012
Proofreading and Editing	One employee	March 27-28, 2012
Advanced Effective Writing for Lawyers Workshop	One employee	May 4, 2012
Logic and Opinion Writing	One employee	May 21-24, 2012

V. Ongoing compliance/sustaining change

The Commission will stay in compliance with the Act by incorporating plain language considerations in all documents that the Commission issues to the public.

VI. Agency’s plain writing website

a. Website address: http://www.oshrc.gov/open/plain_writing.html

b. Implementation of the Act:

The Commission will be using plain writing in any updates to documents most often read by the general public, such as our Guide to Review Commission Procedures, Guide to Simplified Proceedings, Employee Guide to Review Commission Procedures, The Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide, Commission announcements and notices.

c. Link to Compliance reports: Compliance reports will be available on the Commission’s Plain Writing website: http://www.oshrc.gov/open/plain_writing.html.

d. More information on Plain Writing may be obtained at the Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) website: http://www.plainlanguage.gov.

VII. Customer Satisfaction Evaluation after Experiencing Plain Writing Communications

The Commission set up an e-mail address (plain@oshrc.gov) through which the public may contact us to let us know if they have trouble understanding our documents or the pages on our website. The Commission will monitor that e-mail address and will take appropriate action on all correspondence received.