Question

A worker has filed a complaint regarding a serious hazard that could result in a fatality or serious injury. How will OSHA most likely respond?

Answer 1

OSHA evaluates each complaint to determine how it can be handled best--an off-site investigation or an on-site inspection. Workers who would like an on-site inspection must submit a written request. Workers who complain have the right to have their names withheld from their employers, and OSHA will not reveal this information. At least one of the following eight criteria must be met for OSHA to conduct an on-site inspection:

A written, signed complaint by a current employee or employee representative with enough detail to enable OSHA to determine that a violation or danger likely exists that threatens physical harm or that an imminent danger exists;

An allegation that physical harm has occurred as a result of the hazard and that it still exists;

A report of an imminent danger;

A complaint about a company in an industry covered by one of OSHA's local or national emphasis programs or a hazard targeted by one of these programs;

Inadequate response from an employer who has received information on the hazard through a phone/fax investigation;

A complaint against an employer with a past history of egregious, willful or failure-to-abate OSHA citations within the past three years;

Referral from a whistle blower investigator; or

Complaint at a facility scheduled for or already undergoing an OSHA inspection.