How Can You Report a Company to OSHA?

Posted by Steve Alder

You can report a company to OSHA by phone, mail, email, fax, visiting an OSHA office, or via an online report form. Some channels of communication are more appropriate than others for reporting urgent issues, and these are the things you should consider before you report a company to OSHA:

  • Are you reporting a violation of an OSHA standard?
  • Have you evidence to support your report?
  • Do you have all the detail you need to report a company to OSHA?
  • Which is the most appropriate reporting method?

Reporting a Violation of an OSHA Standard

When you report a company to OSHA for violating a safety and health standard, your report will be dealt with quicker if you are able to indicate which specific standard(s) your report relates to. OSHA’s website provides a full list of Occupational Safety and Health Standards and the option exists to search the Standards by keyword.

If you are uncertain about which standards apply to your report, the website can also be searched by most reported topics (i.e., heat, PPE, hazard communication, etc.) or by most reported industry sector (i.e., agriculture, construction, healthcare, etc.). Alternatively, you can phone your nearest OSHA office and ask if you have a justifiable complaint.

Evidence to Support the Report

If you are reporting a company to OSHA for a violation of a safety and health standard, it is important you have evidence to support your report. Physical evidence such as photos and videos are ideal, and OSHA will also accept eyewitness accounts as evidence provided the contact details of the eyewitness are provided so the report can be corroborated.

The exception to this guidance is if you are reporting a company to OSHA using the online Whistleblower Complaint Form. OSHA advises against including witness names and contact details on the form because it will be shared with your employer. Eyewitness accounts will be requested if needed as the investigation into your report progresses.

The Details You Need to Report a Company to OSHA

OSHA operates a priority system for inspecting workplaces; and, if your report is about (for example) a lack of PPE, it will be prioritized if the lack of PPE represents an imminent danger in the workplace. Therefore, the more details you are able to provide, the more information OSHA has to make an informed decision about prioritizing your report.

Additionally, it is important you have the details required for OSHA to conduct an inspection – especially in an imminent danger situation. These include the name and location of the business at which the hazard exists, the name of the individual(s) responsible for safety and health, and as many contact numbers as you think are necessary to contact the individual(s).

Which is the Most Appropriate Reporting Method?

The most appropriate reporting method to report a company to OSHA in an imminent danger situation is the 24-hour phone hotline – 1-800-321-6742 (OSHA). Other reports can be made via any other channel of communication, but it is important to be aware that the online report form has a limited number of characters in some fields – making it difficult to report complex situations.

Consequently, OSHA receives many reports relating to a failure of OSHA compliance via mail, email, and fax. To help workers better structure reports via these channels of communication, OSHA has published a “Notice of Alleged Safety or Health Hazards” (PDF) – which can either be printed off and sent to OSHA or used as a template to report a company to OSHA.

How to Report a Company to OSHA: Conclusion

In conclusion, every worker has the right to a safe and healthful workplace, and each of us has a role to play in upholding this right. Reporting a company to OSHA is a serious matter and not something to be taken lightly, but it is a critical step in protecting workers’ safety and health. In taking the initiative to report potential violations, you are contributing to the larger OSHA mission of ensuring every worker goes home safe and healthy at the end of the day.

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Kaiser Pays $49 Million to Settle Improper Disposal Investigation

Posted by Steve Alder

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced a $49 million settlement has been reached with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Foundation Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals to resolve allegations of improper disposal of hazardous waste, medical waste, and protected health information.

Oakland, CA-based Kaiser is the largest healthcare provider in California with more than 700 healthcare facilities in the state, serving more than 8.8 million patients. An investigation was launched by 6 district attorneys from Alameda, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, and Yolo counties into the unlawful dumping of dangerous items.  Undercover staff from the district attorneys’ offices inspected dumpsters at 16 different Kaiser facilities. The dumpsters were not secured and the contents were destined for disposal in landfill sites.

The inspectors found hundreds of items of hazardous and medical waste, including aerosols, cleansers, sanitizers, batteries, syringes, medical tubing containing body fluids, pharmaceuticals, and electronic wastes. The dumpsters also contained more than 10,000 paper records that contained the protected health information of 7,700 patients. The California Department of Justice later joined the investigation and expanded it statewide at other Kaiser facilities. Kaiser was alleged to have violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and California’s Hazardous Waste Control Law, Medical Waste Management Act, Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Customer Records Law, and Unfair Competition Law.

In response to the investigation, Kaiser engaged a third-party consultant to conduct more than 1,100 trash audits at its facilities and its operating procedures have been updated to ensure proper waste disposal across its facilities in California. The settlement consists of $37,513,000 in civil penalties, $4,832,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, and $4,905,000 for supplemental environmental projects. A further $1.75 million in civil monetary penalties must be paid if Kaiser has not invested a further $3.5 million in its Californian facilities to provide enhanced environmental compliance measures.

Kaiser is also required to retain an independent third-party auditor to conduct more than 520 trash compactor audits at its California facilities to make sure hazardous items and protected health information are not being disposed of in regular trash, and at least 40 programmatic field audits must be conducted each year for the next 5 years to evaluate compliance with its policies covering hazardous waste, medical waste, and protected health information.

“The illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste puts the environment, workers, and the public at risk. It also violates numerous federal and state laws,” said Attorney General Bonta. “As a healthcare provider, Kaiser should know that it has specific legal obligations to properly dispose of medical waste and safeguard patients’ medical information. I am pleased that Kaiser has been cooperative with my office and the district attorneys’ offices, and that it took immediate action to address the alleged violations.”

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