In a perfect world, employers would always follow the rules, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration wants to know when companies aren’t adhering to proper health and safety guidelines, so the agency established the Whistleblower Protection Program to empower workers to speak up.
Designed to enforce the requirements of more than 20 whistleblower statues in place to protect workers who report wrongdoings by their employer, the Whistleblower Protection Program helps people feel confident about standing up for what’s right.
Rights Covered Under the Whistleblower Protection Program
Serious injuries and even deaths can occur when workers don’t feel comfortable speaking out against an employer who refuses to adhere to proper health and safety guidelines. The OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program defends workers from employer retaliations, so they don’t have to choose between keeping their job and exercising their rights to a safe work environment. This includes a wide-range of adverse actions, such as firing, blacklisting, making threats, disciplining and reducing pay or hours.
Section 11(c) of the OSH act protects the following worker rights:
- Filing an OSHA complaint.
- Assisting with inspection or talking to an inspector.
- Requesting access to employer exposure and injury records.
- Reporting a work-related injury.
- Bringing a health or safety complaint to an employer’s attention.
Filing an OSHA Complaint
The OSH Act was passed in 1970, and since then OSHA has gained the ability to protect workers under 22 different federal laws in three main categories — occupational environmental and nuclear safety laws, transportation industry laws and consumer and investor protection laws. The amount of time a complaint must be filed in varies according to each law, ranging from 30 days to 180 days. Workers should be aware of the law governing their specific situation, to make sure they don’t miss the deadline to file a complaint.
OSHA makes it easy to file a whistleblower complaint, offering a number of different options, including:
- Online.Workers can file a complaint using the Online Whistleblower Complaint Form, which will be forwarded to the appropriate official.
- Fax or Mail. The Notice of Whistleblower Complaint Form can be downloaded and faxed or mailed to the closest OSHA regional or area Office.
- Telephone. A representative from a local OSHA regional or area office can accept a complaint by phone.
- Letter. A letter containing a detailed account of the incident can be sent to a local OSHA regional or area office for assistance.
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