A New Jersey Work Environment Council Fact Sheet

When to Call OSHA 

Workers facing hazardous job conditions need to make choices about what kind of action to take to prevent or eliminate risks.  The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) gives private sector workers and many public sector employees the right to file complaints about hazardous job conditions, including requests for on-site inspections.  This fact sheet can help you decide when you should -- and when you shouldn't – make a formal complaint to OSHA.

You File an OSHA Complaint
An OSHA complaint should only be filed when you and your coworkers have judged that it is likely to produce positive results.  Indeed, filing an OSHA complaint should be viewed as one strategy among many for eliminating and preventing hazardous working conditions. 

Whether you are facing hazards that pose “imminent danger” and need immediate action or those that have persisted for years, consider the following steps before filing a complaint with OSHA:  
 
Call your Union, if you have one. As your bargaining agent, your union is



Talking to your co-workers is the most  important step in any attempt to solve health and safety problems. Nobody knows better what problems exist in the workplace -- and the best solutions -- then the people who work there everyday.

 experienced in negotiating with your employer over a range of issues, including unsafe working conditions.  Your union should also be able to judge whether to resolve hazardous conditions by working cooperatively with your employer, by complaining to OSHA, or by using other tactics.  In addition, the legal power of the union should help protect you from retaliation for taking action.     
If you don’t have a union, talk to your co-workers. Remember, there is 
strength in numbers and that hazardous conditions are likely to affect many of you.  But keep in mind that you have the right to have your name withheld from your employer if you make a complaint to OSHA.               
Bring hazardous conditions to your employer's attention, if possible.
It is your employer’s legal responsibility to keep your job safe and healthful.  If you are a union member, work with your steward or safety committee to notify your employer about hazards -- and allow an appropriate response time.  (Despite OSHA’s anti-retaliation provisions, some employers still retaliate against workers who raise health and safety concerns.  Workers in unions have multiple protections against retaliation and therefore are least vulnerable when raising concerns directly with their employers.  
Meet or speak with OSHA before filing a request for an inspection. 
Inspectors in area offices can be helpful to workers who have questions about how to make the strongest case for an inspection.  They may be familiar with your employer, and they are likely to be familiar with the types of hazards you are facing.  However, you should be clear that by making this inquiry you are not asking OSHA to take action -- you are simply gathering information for a possible complaint in the future. Be prepared:  Depending on the severity of your complaint, it is possible OSHA will want to take immediate action.  

 ....Be Aware of OSHA's Limitations
There are many good reasons for calling OSHA.  You or your co-workers may be in “imminent” danger.  Or you may have notified your employer about hazardous conditions and the response was unsatisfactory and the hazard remained.  Or you and your coworkers believe notifying your employer directly is too risky.  But before you contact OSHA, you should become familiar with some of the agency’s limitations: 

             

What’s “Regulated” and What’s Not  


Some Serious Hazards NOT Covered by OSHA Standards 
(as of 9/2000)
------------------- Indoor 
Air Quality

Extreme       Temperatures

Workplace   Violence

Tens of Thousands of Toxic Chemicals (Under 500 are covered)

  Cumulative Trauma/
Repetitive Strain

Job Stress
OSHA standards do not cover every hazard, and many current standards are not protective enough.  For example, there are no federal standards regulating indoor air quality or extreme temperatures.  Thus, complaining to OSHA about these hazards – or any of the “under-regulated” hazards -- may not be enough to trigger an inspection or to get your employer to make changes even though an OSHA inspection occurred.  And even though the OSH Act’s “General Duty Clause” legally requires employers to maintain safe and healthful workplaces “free of recognized hazards,” the agency has had limited success enforcing this provision [Section 5(a)(1)] of the law.
Who’s Covered and Who’s Not  
If you work in the private sector, you are most likely covered by an OSHA regional office under federal OSHA or an OSHA program operated by your state government.  If you work in the public sector in a state that runs its own OSHA program, you are covered by those states. However, more than eight million public sector workers in 27 states are not covered by federal OSHA. 
OSHA’s Staff Resources  
Nationwide, there are approximately 2,100 federal and state OSHA 
inspectors responsible for enforcing the law at more than seven million workplaces.  At its current staffing and inspection levels, OSHA would take more than 100 years to inspect each of these workplaces just once.  Because of these limitations, OSHA relies on the “deterrent” impact of its enforcement program.  Inspections that result in penalties at one workplace are intended to send a message that other employers should heed.  In fact, many employers have a profound fear that OSHA will inspect their workplace.   And workers should be aware that this possibility is often more effective than an actual inspection.   As one union safety committee member said, “If you haven’t used the inspection as a threat, it’s too soon to file a complaint.” 
Time to File an OSHA Complaint
Once you have determined that complaining to OSHA may be useful, you still need to make your case loud and clear enough to get the agency’s attention and a productive outcome.  OSHA’s response may depend not only on how and when you contact them, but also on how well your complaint addresses the severity of the hazard, the connection between the hazard and a specific OSHA standard, and whether the hazard poses a clear and immediate danger.  
Know What OSHA is Looking For 
Since OSHA’s small staff can’t possibly conduct an inspection in response to every complaint, the agency evaluates the complaints it receives.  It’s similar to the way a hospital emergency room staff determines who to treat first. The agency does not judge complaints on a “first come, first served” basis.  OSHA ranks complaints according to the severity of hazards and the number of workers potentially exposed, and familiarity with this system can help you make a stronger case for an inspection:
You can research your employer's OSHA inspection history -- including penalties and fines received and standards violated  - by viewing the "establish search" area of the 
agency's website:
http://www.osha.
gov/cgi-bin/estest1		 No. 1 priority for inspections is “imminent danger” situations, in which workers face an immediate risk of death or serious physical harm. These complaints are often made from the work site, where workers should stay – but away from the hazard -- after making a complaint.  
No. 2 priority is incidents involving fatalities or “catastrophes” -- defined by OSHA as an accident involving death or that requires hospitalization of three or more workers.  
No. 3 priority is employee complaints and referrals.  Complaints can be filed if you believe there is a violation of an OSHA standard or if you believe there is a serious health or safety hazard.
Know What Standards Are  Frequently Cited  
A high percentage of citations are issued for a small number of OSHA standards.  (See next page for a “Top 20” list.)  Many of these standards, including 15 of the top 20 most frequently cited, regulate hazards that are easily identified by OSHA inspectors, such as portable fire extinguishers, guard rails, machine guarding and means of egress (exits).  As one industrial hygienist put it, “They’re either there or they’re not.”  Knowing what standards OSHA can cite for without difficulty is useful information.  If you work in a facility where you are exposed to chemicals, for example, you may want to indicate in your complaint that you are not being provided with respiratory, eye or other protection, and that you have asked for but have not received health effects information.  OSHA inspectors are then more likely to look for these violations -- so if your chemical exposure is below the agency’s permissible limit, citations can still be issued for other violations.  Note that the experience of some unions also indicates that complaints about certain standards, like Hazard Communication (your “right to know” about toxic substances), are more likely to prompt OSHA to conduct a “comprehensive” inspection of your whole workplace, rather than a limited or “focused” inspection.
Filing an OSHA Complaint
Workers can file complaints to OSHA in person, by telephone, by fax, by mail or electronically through OSHA’s web site: http://www.osha.gov.  The agency evaluates each complaint to judge whether it is valid and whether it should prompt an off-site telephone investigation or an on-site inspection.  The way you make your complaint is an important strategic decision, since it will likely determine whether your employer faces an on-site investigation.  

Formal Written complaints signed by a current employee or their representative must be submitted to initiate on-site inspections – except in rare cases.  For information about filing a written complaint with OSHA, see the COSH Protecting Workers Who Exercise Rights fact sheet entitled How to File a Complaint with OSHA. 

Non-formal fax or telephone complaints help OSHA respond more quickly to hazards. This may also be a useful approach for unorganized workers who would like to remain anonymous but need some immediate action taken by their employer. OSHA usually follows up these complaints with a telephone call or fax and the employer must respond within five days, identifying in writing any problems found and noting corrective actions taken or planned.  The downside of this option is that OSHA does not conduct a physical inspection of the workplace, and there are cases where employers have told OSHA they had corrected a problem (or that no problem existed in the first place.)  If you use this option and the problem doesn’t get fixed, consider contacting OSHA again.  Call 1-800-321-OSHA to make a complaint or to find out the fax number for the OSHA Area office near you.  

20 Most Frequently Cited OSHA Standards

Listed below are the 20 standards most frequently cited by Federal OSHA during the period October 1998 through September 1999. Penalties reflect final amounts rather than initial fines.

Rank  Standard # #Cited #Inspected   $ Penalty Description  
1 19101200 7122  3642   1563656.81  Hazard Communication   
2 19260451   6723 2515 7079110.05  General Requirements all types of Scaffolding          
3 19260501  4137 3462 6866322.83  Fall Protection
Scope/Applications/Definitions     
4 19100147 3886 2064 5472655.33   The Control of Hazardous Energy, Lockout/Tagout            
5 19100134    3742 1590 1110067.31     Respiratory Protection   
6 19100305      3193 1886 1220003.20    Electrical, Wiring Methods, Components & Equip.         
7 19100212   2840 2201 4211889.19    Machines, General Requirements  
8 19100219 2445 1222 1514841.28  Mechanical Power-Transmission Apparatus                    
9 19100303   2231 1574 1394088.50 Electrical Systems Design, General Requirements            
10 19100217  2102 598 1540594.97 Mechanical Power Presses 
11 19100132  2064 1427 1278216.10 Personal Protective Equipment  
12 19260651   1814 1052 2328419.04 Excavations, General Requirements
13   19100023    1806 1315 1881484.16 Guarding Floor & Wall Openings & Holes
14 19100146  1614 550 3067892.14 Permit-Required Confined Spaces
15 19100095    1598 743 1504476.50 Occupational Noise Exposure
16 19101030     1557 612 1191849.75 Bloodborne Pathogens 
17 19100215    1484 912 618707.66 Abrasive Wheel Machinery  
18 19100157    1444 1083 361557.05    Portable Fire Extinguishers 
19  19100037   1428 1032 616527.80 Means of Egress, General 
20 19261053  1416 1053 704690.60 Ladders

For More Information Contact: 

Your union.
Your local COSH group (Committee on Occupational Safety and Health).  For the COSH 
group nearest you, contact NYCOSH at (212) 627-3900.
OSHA.  For the OSHA office nearest you, call 1-800-321-OSHA or visit the agency’s web
site: http://www.osha.gov.

A Project of the National Committees for Occupational Safety and Health Network  

 

• 142 West State Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton • NJ • 08608
• Voice: 609-695-7100 • Fax: 609-695-4200 • E-Mail: info@njwec.org •