HR Management & Compliance

OSHA Beefing Up Whistleblower Program

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced changes aimed at strengthening its protection of employees who report suspected unlawful activity on the part of their employers.

The plan to correct problems with the Whistleblower Protection Program comes after OSHA conducted a top-to-bottom review prompted by audits of the program by the Government Accountability Office in 2009 and 2010. A statement from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said problems with the program were related to its transparency and accountability, training for investigators and managers, and internal communications and audit program.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower sections of 21 federal laws, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act (Title VIII of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), the Affordable Care Act, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act).

As part of the changes to the Whistleblower Protection Program, OSHA will hold a national training conference in September for whistleblower investigators from both federal and state plans. OSHA also will offer other investigator training events and “will strive to ensure that all investigators and supervisors who have not received the mandatory training courses will receive them by the end of the calendar year,” according to the DOL statement.

Since fiscal year 2011, OSHA has hired more than 25 new investigators and appointed a new acting director. For its fiscal year 2012 budget, OSHA established a separate line item for the whistleblower program to better track and hold accountable its activities and accomplishments. Plus the agency requested a $6.1 million increase that will fund an additional 45 investigators, according to the report released after the top-to-bottom review.

The report also says that in fiscal year 2012, OSHA “will implement a more robust outreach program to increase transparency and collaboration with stakeholders. Based on current investigation data, OSHA will provide education and compliance assistance to those industries with significant complaint activity.”

OSHA also has revised and plans to issue a new edition of its Whistleblower Investigations Manual that updates procedures and includes information on laws enacted since the manual was last updated in 2003. The top-to-bottom review report lists some of the changes to the manual:

  • requiring that investigators make every attempt to interview the complainant in all cases;
  • clarifying that whistleblower complaints may be filed orally or in writing and in any language; and
  • expanding guidance on dealing with uncooperative respondents and issuing administrative subpoenas during whistleblower investigations.

The OSHA report also says the agency has eliminated a backlog of more than 150 complaints on appeal, some that were on appeal since 2008.

“The ability of workers to speak out and exercise their legal rights without fear of retaliation is crucial to many of the legal protections and safeguards that all Americans value,” OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels said. “The new measures will significantly strengthen OSHA’s enforcement of the 21 whistleblower laws that Congress charged OSHA with administering.”

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1 thought on “OSHA Beefing Up Whistleblower Program”

  1. To make this brief as possible i blew the whistle on 3/11/09 then fired for it on 4/20/09 provided timelines/emails /documentation in my case.Went through complete chain of command at employer before contacting OSHA.15 months later second technicion comes forward and provides more, even picturies,then he is fired two months later,third technicion comes forward do not know his status yet?
    OSHA investigator who turns out to know my brother states in a meeting with me on 12/7/10 states how bad OSHA is at protecting whistleblowers and boy he talked!
    This is why i have turned to YOUTUBE under( OSHA whistleblower) in an attempt to warn other whistleblowers not to think OSHA has there back!
    Gregg S
    PROUD NAVY DAD

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