Tips for Filing Employee Complaints About OSHA Noncompliance

The law that begat OSHA is the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. In its regulations, OSHA refers to this as “the Act.”

“Any employee or representative of employees who believes that a violation of the Act exists in any workplace where such employee is employed may request an inspection of such workplace….” [29CFR 1903.11(a)]. There’s a process for this detailed in the regulation. The employee doesn’t need to know the process. All an employee has to do is go to www.osha.gov and click the contact us button. From there, the employee can file a complaint online, by phone, or by letter.

The employee doesn’t need to know the relevant OSHA regulation either. OSHA will make that determination based on material facts stated in the complaint.

OSHA cannot issue citations for violations that occurred six months prior, so the complaint needs to be made in a fairly timely manner.

Someone at OSHA (known as the area director, according to the regulations) will evaluate the complaint and, if necessary, reach out to the complainant for more information. If the area director consequently determines there are reasonable grounds to believe the alleged violation exists, the scheduling of at least one inspection will begin. But inspections shall not be limited to the matter covered in the complaint [29CFR 1903.11(b)]. If OSHA has to come out, they are going to make the trip count.

The worst thing you can do when alerted by OSHA that they want to schedule an inspection is to fire the employee you most suspect of reporting your company. On the osha.gov page where employees can contact OSHA, they read this text:

“Workers have the right to report injuries, safety issues, and actions taken against them for speaking up including being fired, demoted, or disciplined. You have the right to file both complaints if appropriate.

“Remember, employers are required to follow safety laws and keep you safe. Employers must also maintain a workplace free from retaliation for voicing concerns about hazards or violations of federal law.”

That’s a plain language assurance to the complaining employee. It comes from 29CFR 1903.11(d), which in part says, “No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because” he or she complained to OSHA. Violating this rule will add a whistleblower case on top of the OSHA violations.

It’s not the end of the world if an employee complains and OSHA schedules an inspection (or simply shows up to perform one). But it can be unnerving and — if your company has been lax — expensive. The question any manager must ask is, “Why did this employee not feel he could come to us to get this resolved?”

To protect your company from these kinds of complaints, that lack of trust on the part of the employee is what you most need to address.

Some tips on building and nurturing that trust:

• Treat every employee’s safety complaint as a serious communication. It is more serious than anything else, and the employee must see this reflected in what you do next. If you are busy, stop what you are doing. Write down the exact nature of the complaint. These four magic words will underscore how serious you take this: “Can you show me?”
• Never minimize the problem or chide the employee. Instead, thank the employee for reporting the problem. If the employee could have solved this problem, also point that out. For example: “In the future when you find an extension cord strung across the steps, unplug it and remove it from the steps. But I still want to know so report it to me so I can get the violator the necessary training.”
• Take action as quickly as possible. For example, the employee says there’s an oily film on the floor in front of the panel he needs to work in. The two of you should rope off the area, and you should get someone to clean that film off the floor. Typically in a production plant there will be a spill response team, for example.
• Follow up with the employee who complained. Ask if they are satisfied with the solution. If not, why not? If their expectations are not realistic or don’t actually improve safety, you’ll need to engage them in a conversation that might be touchy. In no case, however, should you simply blow them off or say you’ll look into it when you have no intention of doing so.
• If you must have a touchy conversation with an employee who isn’t being reasonable, prepare for it by noting the relevant passages from the relevant standards such as NFPA 70E, 29CFR 1910 (General Industry Regulations & Standards), and 29CFR 1926 (Construction Industry Regulations & Standards). If you cannot reach accord by doing this, inform your supervisor of the problem. If you are the top person (for example, the owner of a small shop) and don’t have a supervisor to go to, inform the employee the matter is closed. If that employee then files a complaint with OSHA, it will almost certainly go nowhere.
• Periodically address employees individually or as a crew or as a department (depending upon your rank) that management makes mistakes and “…we want you to give us a chance to fix them before calling OSHA.” Remind them that there’s no penalty or reprisal if they do contact OSHA, so that you are not unintentionally telling them not to call OSHA. If they get that vibe, they will tend to bypass you out of fear and go directly to OSHA. You want them to feel free to come forward.

If your company’s management treats employees with respect and behaves in a way that shows those employees are valued, you will have solved 98% of this potential issue. It solves a lot of other things too. Ask them for their input, listen to them, don’t waste their time with bureaucratic processes, invest in their training, and offer sincere compliments about their quality of work. Nothing on that list is a big burden. What’s a big burden is when something on that list is missing.