Employees Can't Be Penalized For Reporting A Hazard

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it is against the law for your employer to punish you for reporting a safety or health hazard. You cannot be discriminated against, fired, demoted, or otherwise penalized for complaining to your employer about a hazard, requesting an OSHA inspection, participating in union safety and health activities, or otherwise exercising your rights under the OSHA Act. 

If you believe you have been illegally punished, you must file your complaint with OSHA within 30 days for it to be timely. OSHA can take action, including going to court if necessary, to force your employer to restore your job, earnings, and benefits. You will not have to pay any legal fees. Recent court cases awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay to employees who charged employers with firing after blowing the whistle. OSHA is very serious about this rule.  

Health Hazards Can Cause Imminent Danger 

Many people think that only safety hazards, which could cause accidents, can be considered imminent dangers. 

It is important to remember that health hazards can cause imminent dangers. Exposure to some toxic substances or dangerous fumes, dusts, or gases can cause irreversible physical harm, shortened life, or reduced physical or mental performance. OSHA may consider such hazards to be imminent dangers even if the health effects of exposure to these hazards do not become immediately apparent. 

Imminent Danger 2.12.1 Employees Can Report Imminent Danger to OSHA

If a health or safety hazard at your workplace puts you in imminent danger of death or a serious injury including situations immediately dangerous to life and health, tell your supervisor immediately.

Ask that the condition be corrected and that no workers be exposed to the danger until it is eliminated or controlled. If your employer does not take steps to remove the danger, you may contact the nearest office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or your state occupational safety and health authority. OSHA should be listed under "US. Government, Department of Labor" in your telephone directory. If you live in one of the 25 states or territories which operate their own OSHA programs, you will find the listing under a state government heading such as "Department of Labor" or "Department of Industry."

Tell OSHA the facts. Be specific. Identify the hazard, which concerns you. If you request, OSHA will not reveal your name to your employer, so don't hesitate to give OSHA your name, address, and a telephone number where you can be contacted.

OSHA Responds with Inspection

The director of the closest OSHA area office will review your complaint and immediately decide whether OSHA should make an investigation. If he or she decides that an investigation is necessary, an OSHA inspector or "compliance officer" will conduct an inspection of your workplace--usually the same day you report the problem. Reports of imminent dangers receive the highest priority for OSHA inspections.

If OSHA cannot inspect within one working day after receipt of the report, the area director will contact the employer immediately to request that the hazard be corrected and any affected employees removed from the danger area. An inspection to determine whether the imminent danger has been eliminated will then be conducted at a later time.

Imminent Danger Warning

During an inspection, if compliance officers find an imminent danger, they will ask your employer to correct the hazardous condition and remove endangered employees from the area. If your employer refuses, OSHA may post an "Imminent danger" notice and may seek from the nearest federal district court for an order requiring the employer to remove the danger. Before the OSHA inspectors leave the workplace, they will inform all affected employees of the hazard.

Refusing Dangerous Work 

OSHA can protect you if you are discharged or otherwise disciplined for refusing to perform a task that would expose you to imminent danger of death or serious injury, providing you have sought and been unable to obtain a remedy from your supervisor and there is insufficient time to have the condition corrected through filing a complaint with OSHA. You may also be protected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) if you refuse dangerous work in cooperation with or on behalf of other workers. OSHA and the NLRB cooperate in refusal-to-work cases involving health or safety hazards. You may contact either agency to discuss your case if you have been punished for refusing dangerous work. 

Recording and Reporting of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

Annual Summary Through the Recording Year 2001 §1904.5

An annual summary of occupational injuries and illnesses for each establishment must be posted by employers. The summary for 2001 must be presented on the OSHA 200 Log and must contain information regarding the calendar year for 2001, the company name, the name and address of the establishment, a signature certifying the accuracy of the information, the person's title, and the date. The summary must be posted no later than February 1 and must remain posted until March 1, 2002. It must be posted in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted.

Annual Summary Beginning with the Recording Year 2002 §1904.32

The OSHA 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is a new form for posting the annual summary of injuries and illnesses. For the calendar year 2002 and thereafter, you must fill out the OSHA 300A summary and post in from February 1 through April 30. Your first posting will be February1 through April 30, 2003.

At the end of each calendar year:

• Review your 300 Log to verify that the entries are complete and accurate, and correct any deficiencies identified.
• Create an annual summary by totaling the columns on the 300 Log. If you had no recordable cases, enter zeros for each column total. Using the OSHA Form 300A (or an equivalent), enter the calendar year covered, the company's name, establishment name, establishment address, annual average number of employees covered by the 300 Log, and the total hours worked by all employees covered by the Log. If you are using an equivalent form, also include the employee access and employer penalty statements found on the OSHA 300A Summary.
• Certify that the information is accurate. A company executive must certify that he or she has examined the 300 Log and believes that the summary is correct and complete. The company executive may be the owner (only if the company is a sole proprietorship or partnership), an officer in the corporation, the highest ranking official (or immediate supervisor) working at the establishment.
• Post a copy of the annual summary in each establishment in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Post it no later than February 1 of the year following the year covered by the records and keep the posting in place until April 30. Ensure that it is always available for viewing by employees.

If no injuries or illnesses occurred during the year, zeros must be entered on the totals line and the form must be posted for the same time period

Develop an MSD Reporting System

There should be a method/system for employees to report MSD signs and symptoms and to get prompt responses. It may take either a formal or informal approach. Large employers may decide that a formal system of reporting that includes written documentation is appropriate to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Employers with fewer than ten employees, on the other hand, may find that oral reporting systems are adequate.

Your company probably has an injury and illness reporting system in place that can be adapted to accommodate MSD reporting. Regardless of how methods are tailored to meet the needs of a specific workplace and workforce, the process must be systematic and accessible to all employees.

A reporting system is important for a successful ergonomics program. In order for you to know that MSDs are occurring, employees must have a mechanism for reporting this information. A system that is well-known to employees is one way to ensure employee participation in the ergonomics program.

It's a good idea to designate at least one person to receive and respond to employee reports, and to take appropriate action. Depending on the workplace, that responsibility may be designated to front-line supervisors, a safety officer or safety committee, an occupational health nurse, or in small companies, the employer may encourage workers to report MSD signs and symptoms directly to him or her.

Build In-House Expertise

Training is recognized as an essential element for any effective safety and health program. For ergonomics, the overall goal of training is to enable managers, supervisors, and employees to identify aspects of job tasks that may increase a worker's risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders, recognize the signs and symptoms of the disorders, and participate in the development of strategies to control or prevent them. Training ensures that everyone involved is well informed about the hazards so they can actively participate in identifying and controlling exposures.

Ergonomics awareness training objectives should include:

• Recognize workplace risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders and understand general methods for controlling them.

• Identify the signs and symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders that may result from exposure to risk factors, and be familiar with the company's health care procedures.

• Know the process the employer is using to address and control risk factors, the employee's role in the process, and ways employees can actively participate.

• Know the procedures for reporting risk factors and musculoskeletal disorders, including the names of designated persons who should receive the reports.

Job analysis and control measures training objectives should include:

• Demonstrate the way to do a job analysis for identifying risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders.

• Select ways to implement and evaluate control measures.

Problem solving training objectives include:

• Identify the departments, areas, and jobs with risk factors through a review of company reports, records, walk-through observations, and special surveys.

• Identify tools and techniques that can be used to conduct job analyses and serve as a basis for recommendations.

• Develop skills in team building, consensus development, and problem solving.

• Recommend ways to control ergonomic hazards based on job analyses and pooling ideas from employees, management, and other affected and interested parties.

Training objectives are not intended to have workers, supervisors, or managers diagnose or treat ergonomic-related disorders. Rather, the purpose is to instill an understanding of what type of health problems may be work related and when to refer employees for medical evaluation. The training should include what is known about work and non-worker causes of musculoskeletal disorders and the current limitations of scientific knowledge.

Training should be understandable to the target audience and the materials used should consider the participants' education levels, literacy abilities, and language skills. This may mean providing materials, instruction, or assistance in languages other than English.

Open and frank interactions between trainers and trainees, especially those in affected jobs, are especially important. Employees know their own jobs better than anyone else and often are the source of good ideas for ways to improve them. At a minimum, employees must be given an opportunity to discuss ergonomic problems in their jobs as they see them and engage in relevant problem-solving exercises during the training.

Audit the Ergonomics Program

A comprehensive ergonomics program audit is also essential to periodically evaluate the whole set of safety and health management methods and processes to ensure that they protect against potential ergonomic hazards at a specific worksite. The audit determines whether policies and procedures are implemented as planned and whether, in practice, they have met the objectives set for the program.

Performing an audit will ensure that the overall ergonomics effort is consistent with the priorities and goals of your organization. Include accounting and engineering activities as well as safety in your audit. An ergonomic audit should focus on these areas.

• Identification of existing and potential problems.

• Ergonomic assessment of jobs with possible problems.

• Correction for and prevention of ergonomic problems.

• Medical management.

• Ergonomics training at all employee levels.

• Organizational issues and management.

When either performance or the objectives themselves are found inadequate, revisions to the program should be made. Without such a comprehensive review, its impossible to gage the effectiveness of the ergonomic controls you've implemented.

Recordkeeping and Reporting | OSHA

Recordkeeping and Reporting

Before the Act became effective, no centralized and systematic method existed for monitoring occupational safety and health problems. Statistics on job injuries and illnesses were collected by some states and by some private organizations; national figures were based on not-altogether-reliable projections. With OSHA came the first basis for consistent, nationwide procedures — a vital requirement for gauging problems and solving them.

29 CFR Part 1904 requires that employers with 11 or more employees maintain records of occupational injuries and illnesses as they occur. Employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt from keeping such records unless they are selected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to participate in the Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses or OSHA to participate in the site-specific injury and illness survey.

The purposes of keeping records are to permit injury and illness data to be compiled, to help define high hazard industries, and to inform employees of the status of their employer's record. Employers in state plan states are required to keep the same records as employers in other states.

Recordable Injuries and Illnesses

An injury or illness is recordable if it results in death; days away from work; restricted work; transfer to another job; medical treatment beyond first aid; loss of consciousness; or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or healthcare professional (HCP).

• Death

  Record an injury or illness that results in an employee's death on the OSHA 300 Log and report it to OSHA within eight hours.

• Days away from work

  When an injury or illness involves one or more days away from work, record it on the OSHA 300 Log known. Begin counting days away on the day after the injury occurred or the illness began.

• Restricted work

  Restricted work occurs when you keep the employee from performing one or more routine job functions; from working the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work; or a HCP recommends that the employee not perform routine functions the job, or work a full workday.

• Job transfer

  If you assign an injured or ill employee to a job other than his or her regular job for part of the day, the case involves transfer to another job.

• Medical treatment beyond first aid

  If a work-related injury or illness results in medical treatment beyond first aid, record it on the OSHA 300 Log. OSHA's list of first aid treatments is inclusive, that is, you can look at it and without elaborate analysis, can determine whether a treatment is first aid and thus not recordable.

• Loss of consciousness

  Every work-related injury or illness case involving a complete loss of consciousness (not merely a sense of disorientation or other diminished level of awareness) is recordable, regardless of the length of time the employee remains unconscious.

• Significant injury or illness

  Significant diagnosed work-related injuries or illnesses are recordable under the general criteria, even if they do not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.

Verbal Report to OSHA

If an on-the-job accident occurs which results in the death of an employee or in the hospitalization of three or more employees, all employers, regardless of the number of employees, are required to verbally report the accident within eight hours to the nearest OSHA office or the national OSHA hotline at (800) 321-OSHA (6742).

In states with approved plans, employers report such accidents to the state agency responsible for safety and health programs.

Injury and Illness Records

Employers must keep injury and illness records for each establishment. An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. For activities where employees do not work at a single physical location, such as construction; transportation; communications, electric, gas and sanitary services; and similar operations, the establishment is represented by main or branch offices, terminals, stations, etc. that either supervise such activities or are the base from which personnel carry out these activities.

An employer whose employees work in dispersed locations must keep records at the place where the employees report for work. For employees who telecommute from home, the employee's home is not a business establishment and a separate 300 Log is not required. Employees who telecommute must be linked to one of the company's establishments.

OSHA Recordkeeping Forms

Recordkeeping forms are maintained on a calendar year basis. The forms are not routinely sent to OSHA or any other agency, however, OSHA may request the information in a survey format. Recordkeeping forms must be maintained for five years at the establishment and must be available for inspection by representatives of OSHA, HHS, BLS or the designated state agency.

OSHA 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses: The OSHA 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses replaces the OSHA 200. Use the OSHA 300 to document recordable injuries and illnesses, either electronically or on paper. You may use forms that are different from the OSHA 300 Log, provided that the electronic record or paper forms are equivalent to the 300 Log. Record the injury or illness within seven calendar days of receiving information that it occurred.

OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report: The OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report replaces the OSHA 101. For each recordable injury or illness on the 300 Log, complete a 301 Incident Report form, or an equivalent. The 301 is designed to accommodate lengthier, detailed information about the incident. Many employers use an insurance form instead of the 301 Incident Report, or supplement an insurance form by adding any additional information required by OSHA. Record the injury or illness within seven calendar days of receiving information that it occurred.

OSHA 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses: The OSHA 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is a new form for posting the annual summary of injuries and illnesses. At the end of each calendar year:

• Review your 300 Log to verify that the entries are complete and accurate, and correct any deficiencies identified.

• Create an annual summary by totaling the columns on the 300 Log. If you had no recordable cases, enter zeros for each column total. Using the OSHA Form 300A (or an equivalent), enter the calendar year covered, the establishment name and address, annual average number of employees covered by the 300 Log, and the total hours worked by all employees covered by the Log. If you are using an equivalent form, also include the employee access and employer penalty statements found on the OSHA 300A Summary.

• Certify that the information is accurate. A company executive must certify that he or she has examined the 300 Log and believes that the summary is correct and complete. The company executive may be the owner (only if the company is a sole proprietorship or partnership), an officer in the corporation, the highest ranking official (or immediate supervisor) working at the establishment.

• Post a copy of the annual summary in each establishment in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Post it no later than February 1 of the year following the year covered by the records and keep the posting in place until April 30. Ensure that it is always available for viewing by employees.

Equivalent Forms

You may keep injury and illness records on computer equipment only if the computer system can produce paper copy equivalent forms when access to them is required by OSHA, an employee or former employee, or employee representative. Also, the records may be emailed. A form is considered "equivalent" when it:

• Has the same information,

• Is as readable and understandable, and

• Is completed using the same instructions as the OSHA form it replaces.

Annual BLS Survey: Employers selected to participate in the annual statistical survey receive in the mail, soon after the close of the year, a form for this purpose. Each employer selected must complete this report, using the OSHA 300 Log as the source of information, and return it to BLS. Small business employers, those with 10 or fewer employees that are normally exempted from keeping injury and illness records, may be selected to complete the survey. In this case, they are notified at the beginning of the year and supplied with an OSHA 300 Log.

Annual OSHA Reporting Survey: Employers selected to participate in OSHA's annual site-specific injury and illness survey will receive in the mail a survey form to complete. The survey requires each employer to report the number of workers employed, the number of hours worked, and occupational injuries and illnesses recorded on the OSHA 300 Log during the specified time period. The completed survey must be returned to OSHA within 30 calendar days or the time period indicated on the survey form.

Employers that are normally exempt from OSHA's injury and illness recordkeeping requirements may also be required to complete a survey. These employers will be notified a year in advance that they have been selected to participate in the information collection procedure and must then maintain injury and illness data for the upcoming year. At the end of the year, they will receive a survey from OSHA to be completed and returned within 30 calendar days.

In addition, many specific OSHA standards have recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Posting Requirements

A copy of the totals and summary information for the year must be posted at each establishment wherever notices to employees are customarily posted. For the year 2001, an OSHA 200 summary must be posted by February 1 and kept in place until March 1. Beginning with 2002 reporting, an OSHA 300A must be completed and posted from February 1 through April 30. When no injuries or illnesses occurred during the year, enter zeros on the "totals" line and post the form for the required time period.

Recordkeeping Variances

Employers wishing to set up a recordkeeping system different from the one required by OSHA regulations may apply for a recordkeeping variance. Petitions for recordkeeping variances must detail and justify the employer's intended procedures and must be submitted to the regional commissioner of BLS for the area in which the workplace is located. Similarly, in state plan states, only BLS can grant a variance from recordkeeping requirements.

As with applications for variances from standards, an employer filing for a recordkeeping variance must give a copy of the application to the employees' authorized representative. The employer also must post a summary of the application wherever notices are normally posted. Employees have 10 working days to submit to BLS their own written data, views or arguments.