Responding to complaints by a disgruntled employee, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration held a three-hour inspection of Judy's Bakery in Evanston, Illinois, a small enterprise that employs 30 people.

OSHA's report cited owner Judy Hooper, for, among other things, failing to have a written "Material Safety Data Sheet" for "hazardous" chemicals used at the bakery. The only chemicals used at the bakery were ordinary household bleach and pink dishwashing liquid, which both feature clearly marked warning labels.

Ms. Hooper was also cited for failing to have a written plan for emergencies such as a fire. The shop, which is on the first floor and has four clearly marked exits, is inspected twice a year by the Evanston Fire Department with no problem.

Hooper also failed to post an accident log on the shop's wall, even though her company had never had an accident requiring a worker's compensation claim. OSHA responded that this was irrelevant and argued that the log must hang on the wall even if it contained all zeroes, one for each accident-free day.

At her informal settlement hearing with OSHA officials, Hooper was able to negotiate the resulting fines down from $13,000 to $5,450, but Hooper was still required to spend the balance on safety and health programs for her employees and to present proof she had complied.

Ironically, none of the citations was related to the employee's complaints, which were found to be baseless.

†