It should be your employer’s goal to protect you and other workers from workplace hazards. As a safe and productive worker, you have a right to bring hazards to the attention of your employer in good faith without fear of retaliation.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Rights protect you from punishment by your employer, such as reduced wages, demotion, firing, intimidation, or other forms of personnel action, for identifying hazards that require correction.

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently sued a privately-run charter school for terminating a worker who voiced safety concerns regarding electrical hazards and absent sprinklers. The worker contacted OSHA when these concerns were

ignored and was fired shortly after reporting the hazards. OSHA conducted an inspection and cited the school for violations related to the worker’s concerns. The DOL has requested the worker be reinstated with full back wages and benefits.

Should your employer retaliate against you for taking any protected action, such as participating in safety meetings, indicating hazards, bringing violations such as fraud to the attention of a regulatory authority, you must contact your local OSHA office as soon as possible.

For more information on Whistleblower Laws enforced by OSHA, your rights as a worker, and more, download this OSHA Fact Sheet or visit OSHA’s Whistleblower web page.

Regulatory Review Whistleblower rights, DOL, whistleblower, Department of labor, OSHA

Every year, between February 1 and April 30, all employers with 11 or more employees are required by OSHA to post occupational injury and illness summaries from the prior year.

The summary is usually a single page that compiles all of a specific company's injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by category, and the total number of days missed due to injury or illness.

Posting these summaries allows the employer to identify problem areas and work to prevent them in the future. It also allows the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to compile figures on injuries and illnesses and determine trends. This in turn helps OSHA determine whether regulations need to be added or tweaked to reduce injuries and illnesses in specific industries.

While employers are responsible for compiling and posting the injuries and illnesses from the past year, employees should understand how and when to report an injury or illness. It is the responsibility of the employer to teach their employees how to report injuries and illnesses.

Regulatory Review Injury and illness summary, Workplace injuries