Lawyer Listings Add, Update, or Remove Listings

Workplace Safety Complaints (OSHA)

The federal right to a safe workplace, how a worker files a confidential OSHA complaint, the narrow right to refuse dangerous work, and protection against retaliation.

Informational only - this is not legal advice. These definitions explain general legal vocabulary in plain English. They are not advice about your situation, reading them creates no attorney-client relationship, and the law differs from state to state and changes over time. For advice you can rely on, speak to a lawyer licensed in your state.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of Whistleblower-Qui Tam law firms.

What it means

The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires most private-sector employers to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm (the general duty clause) and to comply with the safety and health standards OSHA issues, such as rules on fall protection, machine guarding, hazard communication, respiratory protection and trenching. About half the states run their own OSHA-approved plans, which must be at least as effective as the federal program and often cover state and local government workers too.

A worker or a worker's representative may file a complaint with OSHA online, by phone, by mail or in person, and may ask that their name not be revealed to the employer. A written, signed complaint about a serious hazard or a violation can lead to an on-site inspection; others are often handled by a letter to the employer requiring a response. Workers may talk to the inspector privately. Employers must record and report serious work injuries and illnesses, and fatalities and certain severe injuries must be reported to OSHA promptly.

Federal law forbids an employer to fire, demote or otherwise retaliate against a worker for filing a safety complaint, reporting an injury, or taking part in an inspection; the deadline to file a retaliation complaint with OSHA is very short. A worker may refuse to perform a task only in narrow circumstances: the danger of death or serious injury must be real and imminent, the worker must have asked the employer to fix it, and there must be no time to get it corrected through an OSHA inspection. The Act does not let workers sue their employer for an injury itself; that is usually a workers' compensation claim. OSHA also handles retaliation complaints under many other federal whistleblower laws (see whistleblower protections).

Where this comes from

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. §§ 651-678: general duty and compliance with standards, § 654(a); employee complaints and inspections, § 657(f); retaliation, § 660(c); state plans, § 667. Regulations: general industry and construction standards, 29 C.F.R. Parts 1910, 1926; recording and reporting injuries, Part 1904 (reporting severe injuries, § 1904.39); right to refuse imminently dangerous work, § 1977.12(b)(2), upheld in Whirlpool Corp. v. Marshall, 445 U.S. 1 (1980); retaliation complaints, Part 1977.

When people hire a lawyer for this

You can file a safety complaint yourself; OSHA does not charge and does not require a lawyer. Talk to an employment lawyer quickly if you were fired, disciplined or had hours cut after raising a safety issue, because the OSHA retaliation deadline is much shorter than most and state law may offer a separate, longer claim. If you were hurt at work, a workers' compensation lawyer can tell you whether a claim against someone other than your employer, such as an equipment maker or a contractor, is also possible.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find Whistleblower-Qui Tam law firms in your state

Choose your state to see Whistleblower-Qui Tam law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z.

Alabama (Birmingham)
+1 other city
- Montgomery
Alaska (Anchorage)
Arizona (Chandler)
+6 other cities
Arkansas (Little Rock)
California (Long Beach)
+19 other cities
- Anaheim
- Chula Vista
- Fontana
- Irvine
- Los Angeles
- Modesto
- Oakland
- Riverside
- Sacramento
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
- Santa Ana
- and 7 more with fewer listed firms
Colorado (Aurora)
+2 other cities
- Colorado Springs
- Denver
Connecticut (Bridgeport)
Delaware (Wilmington)
District of Columbia (Washington)
Florida (Orlando)
+5 other cities
Georgia (Atlanta)
Hawaii (Honolulu)
Illinois (Chicago)
Indiana (Fort Wayne)
+1 other city
- Indianapolis
Iowa (Des Moines)
Kansas (Kansas City)
Kentucky (Lexington)
+1 other city
- Louisville
Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
+1 other city
- New Orleans
Maine (Portland)
Maryland (Baltimore)
Massachusetts (Boston)
Michigan (Detroit)
Minnesota (Minneapolis)
+1 other city
- Saint Paul
Mississippi (Jackson)
Missouri (Kansas City)
+1 other city
- St. Louis
Nebraska (Lincoln)
+1 other city
- Omaha
Nevada (Henderson)
+2 other cities
- Las Vegas
- North Las Vegas
New Hampshire (Manchester)
New Jersey (Jersey City)
+1 other city
- Newark
New Mexico (Albuquerque)
New York (Buffalo)
+2 other cities
- New York City
- Rochester
North Carolina (Charlotte)
+5 other cities
Ohio (Cincinnati)
+3 other cities
Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
+1 other city
- Tulsa
Oregon (Portland)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
+1 other city
- Pittsburgh
Rhode Island (Providence)
South Carolina (Columbia)
Tennessee (Nashville)
Texas (Austin)
+12 other cities
Utah (Salt Lake City)
Virginia (Chesapeake)
+3 other cities
Washington (Seattle)
+1 other city
- Tacoma
West Virginia (Charleston)
Wisconsin (Madison)
+1 other city
- Milwaukee

Related terms

Entries on the same subject:

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

« All glossary terms

Part of the LawyerLand plain-English legal glossary. Definitions are written from primary sources - statutes and court rules - and each entry states the authority it rests on, or says plainly when the doctrine is state law with no national rule.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, civil legal aid programs provide free help with many of these problems: civil legal aid programs by state.

Related free reference tools: statute of limitations for a personal-injury claim, by state, quoted from each state's official text - part of LawyerLand's legal reference tools.