Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continues its improvement efforts to make changes to the Whistleblower Protection Program.

Our Illinois workers' compensation lawyers want workers to know that you should not fear repercussions for reporting unsafe working conditions at your job. Employers have a responsibility to protect workers at Illinois job sites and cannot retaliate when unsafe conditions are reported to the proper authorities.

Recently, OSHA announced that it is putting into practice supplemental measures to reinforce the program and is releasing an internal report featuring a top-to-bottom analysis of the program. There are 21 statutes that OSHA enforces protecting workers who report violations in the workplace regarding safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, airline, environmental, financial reform, food safety, public transportation agency, railroad, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, maritime and securities laws.

"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," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "The new measures will significantly strengthen OSHA's enforcement of the 21 whistleblower laws that Congress charged OSHA with administering."

Audits in 2009 and 2010 from the Government Accountability Office on OSHA's whistleblower program revealed issues with training for investigators and managers, transparency and accountability and the internal communications and audit program. OSHA did their own review and took a closer look at their budget, equipment and personnel issues. The review also included their operational and investigative processes and their national and regional program structures.

"OSHA is committed to correcting the issues brought to light by the GAO report and our own review," said Dr. Michaels.

The following are some of the important changes to OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program:

Restructuring
The Whistleblower Protection Program will no longer be housed in the Directorate of Enforcement but will report to the assistant secretary. Starting in 2012 the whistleblower program will have its own line item. This was done to better follow the programs actions and achievements. In hopes to improve the importance of the program, 25 new investigators were added.

Training
In September, a national whistleblower training conference will be held for state and federal investigators. OSHA will also provide additional training courses, ensuring compliance for all investigators and supervisors in following through to obtain their mandatory training each year.

Program Policy
An updated version of the Whistleblower Investigations Manual will soon be issued by OSHA. The manual has not been updated since 2003 and will contain revised protocols and include the new laws that have been enacted since 2003. An updated manual should legitimize the quality of investigations and make them more consistent.

Internal Systems
Improving the data collection system and the audit program will enable complaints to be dealt with in a timely manner.

Find out more information on employee whistleblower rights by visiting OSHA's website.