Accident at work, worker’s comp claim. OSHA involvement?
There’s a situation at my work where large animals + certain equipment = injured employees.
Suffice to say with a bit more design savvy, the equipment could be modified to eliminate or at least reduce these types of injures. I have suggested this to my employer when I returned to work after a month off. My injury was in December. To date, nothing has been addressed.
Tell me: When does OSHA get involved with injuries that occur at work? Are they notified simply because a worker’s comp claim has been initiated? Does the injured worker have to give a heads up in order to get OSHA involved?
I’m reluctant to blow the whistle myself, but unfortunately the employer is not addressing this, and I fear someone will get seriously injured or killed one day.
ETA: can someone notify OSHA anonymously?
And it boggles my mind that OSHA wouldn’t research work-related injury, since their title is Occupational Safety and Hazards..
The worker’s comp systems and OSHA interact, but are separate. OSHA only immediately steps in if there is a fatality. OSHA does get involved when they do inspections or if someone calls them. It is up to each employer to determine the hazards in their company. So in this case, you employer has decided that the current situation the rules they have in place are satisfactory.
Now you can contact OSHA, but in this situation, your employer will probably know it is you when OSHA contacts them (see reference for OSHA contact form). You may want to do two things first. Talk to your employer again about your ideas to make things safer. Also, why they don’t change. That is info OSHA will want to know. Second, call your regional OSHA office anonymously (third reference) and talk to them.
Remember, if OSHA gets involved, your boss may get upset and retaliate against you. So make sure your work record is good and that your accident is not going to be traced back to being your fault.