What Should I Do If There Is a Safety Hazard at Work?
Whether you simply noticed a safety hazard at your workplace or you were injured at work due to a safety hazard, you should file a complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency of the United States Department of Labor.
If it’s not an emergency, it is best to file a written complaint to OSHA either online or by fax/mail. Click here to see all the options on their website. If you would like to file the complaint online through their website, click here for the OSHA Online Complaint Form. Or you can download the OSHA complaint form here and fax or mail it to back to your local OSHA Regional or Area Office, which you can find here. If it is an emergency, or you have any other questions, you can call OSHA at 800-321-6742.
According to their website, “The complaint should be filed as soon as possible after noticing the hazard or lack of compliance because OSHA citations may only be issued for violations that currently exist or existed in the past 6 months.” Your information will be confidential and you can choose to file a complaint anonymously. Also, it is illegal for your employer to punish you for exercising the right to file a complaint.
It is also important to note that all employers are required to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization (must have been admitted), amputation, or loss of an eye. A fatality must be reported within eight hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours. Read more here.
If you or someone you know was injured at work due to no fault of your own and you have questions as to what laws apply, please give us a call (703-796-9555) or email us at Abrams Landau, Ltd.