OSHA Encourages Workers to Speak Up—and You to Listen

OSHA encourages employees to be active players in their workplace’s safety and health effort. Specifically, OSHA encourages workers to join with employers in promoting safety on the job, and it provides protection for those who speak up.

1. Right to Promote Safety

Working cooperatively to reduce hazards. OSHA encourages employers and employees to work together to reduce hazards. OSHA believes employees should be active participants in workplace safety, not passive observers. Employees are therefore encouraged to discuss safety and health problems with you, other workers, and union representatives.

Right to refuse to perform unsafe work. Although nothing in the OSHA law specifically gives an employee the right to refuse to perform an unsafe or unhealthful job assignment, OSHA’s regulations, which have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, provide that an employee may refuse to work when faced with an imminent danger of death or serious injury. The conditions necessary to justify a work refusal are very stringent, however, and a work refusal should be used only as a last resort. If time permits, the employee should report the unhealthful or unsafe condition to OSHA or another appropriate regulatory agency.

Recourse if the employer does not correct a hazard. An employee may file a complaint by phone, mail, e-mail, or fax with the nearest OSHA office and request an inspection if there are unsafe or unhealthful working conditions. If the OSHA area or state office determines that there are reasonable grounds for believing that a violation or danger exists, the office will investigate.

---

BLR’s OSHA Training System offers a completely prewritten, affordable program to handle employee rights and responsibilities and dozens of other mandated training needs. Try it at no cost. Get the details.

---

2. Right to Protection from Retaliation

Right to confidentiality. Employees who make a complaint to OSHA about safety and health hazards in their workplaces have a right to confidentiality. If the employee requests that his or her name not be used, OSHA will not tell the employer who filed the complaint or requested an inspection.

Whistleblower protections. Employees have a right to seek safety and health on the job without fear of punishment. That right is spelled out in Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. The law forbids the employer from punishing or discriminating against employees for exercising such rights as:

Complaining to the employer, union, OSHA, or any other government agency about job safety and health hazards
Participating in OSHA inspections, conferences, hearings, or other OSHA-related activities

OSHA investigators receive about 2,000 complaints a year from employees who charge their employer with retaliation.

---

Try OSHA Training System for a complete solution to your mandated training needs. You can do so at no cost or risk. Read more.

---

Rights and Responsibilities Training

If you need to train your employees on OSHA rights and responsibilities—and you do—the OSHA Training System has the training materials you need. A safety meeting titled “Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities Under OSHA” provides you with all the information you need to inform employees of their workplace rights and teach them to use those rights responsibly.

As its name implies, OSHA Training System is a complete system to meet your full training needs. All the materials are prepared in advance, so no prep time is required. All you do is reproduce what you need and put it to use. Materials include:

• 
  32 complete safety units, meeting every key OSHA standard. Each includes full background for trainers, a ready-to-use safety meeting, and follow-up handouts. View a Table of Contents.


• Quizzes, handouts, and copies of 27 different employee booklets, all coordinated to the safety meetings. (Booklets can be bought in any quantity at a discount.)


• A complete training recordkeeping and tracking system that tells you which employees need what training, and then tracks your program to ensure they get it.


• Quarterly updates, included with the program. You receive at least four new safety units every 90 days, covering new OSHA standards and training needs.

If you share the common problem of never having enough time or the right materials for training, we’d suggest you examine the OSHA Training System program. We’ve arranged for you to do so for up to 30 days at no cost or risk. Just let us know and we’ll be happy to make all the arrangements.

Other Recent Articles on Enforcement and Inspection
Safety & Health Under Obama: What to Expect?
OSHA Fines [Your Company] Millions for Safety Violations
What Happens After an OSHA Citation?
Are You Ready for OSHA’s Next Moves?