There are a number of reasons that OSHA may show up at the doorstep of your company. Often times we find that OSHA was contacted by an employee or a past employee for reasons varying from unsafe work conditions to a disgruntled employee. Regardless, if your company finds itself in a situation where OSHA was contacted by an employee, it is important to know how to carefully navigate your encounter with OSHA and ensure that your facility is prepared for an unannounced visit.
In most cases, the employee who called OSHA will choose to remain anonymous. However, in some cases you may have a good idea of which employee called OSHA to your facility. It is important to remember that OSHA’s whistleblower laws protect employees from employer retaliation, such as dismissal, discipline, harassment, and demotion. Therefore, you should understand that federal law clearly recognizes that it is illegal for an employer to fire someone for reporting OSHA violations.
The local OSHA office will evaluate the complaint as they receive it and will determine how serious the risk is to the safety of the employee. In many low-risk cases, you will receive a phone call or a letter requesting a follow-up that you must respond to within ten days. In this case, you should be prepared to respond with a thoroughly detailed response with evidence of corrective actions for the complaint filed or proof of compliance. If the content of your response is satisfactory, OSHA may close your case.
If the complaint proves to be more serious, then an OSHA compliance officer is likely to visit your facility.
If an OSHA inspector shows up, there a few key things you should remember:
An OSHA inspection can be daunting for your workplace. It is important to know how to handle an employees’ OSHA complaint to ensure that you use the best resources available to you.
