Proforma Safety Blog

OSHA Publishes Interim Final Rules on Whistleblower Provisions

Posted by proforma on September 14, 2010

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published interim final rules intended to protect workers who voice their concerns about safety, health, and security issues, and in particular, set procedures for handling worker retaliation complaints. The rule itself is available here and information on ”whistleblower” provisions is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

A survey conducted by the Ethics Resource Center, entitled, “Who’s Telling You What You Need to Know, Who Isn’t, and What You Can Do About It,” found that women and nonunion workers, managers (not non-managers) were more likely to report misconduct; US companies or US-based multinationals were more likely to see reporting than foreign-owned. Companies with strong codes of conduct and training experienced higher reporting rates. An useful article on what employers can do to reduce whistleblower incidents is available here.