What are my rights as a whistleblower?

You may file a complaint with OSHA if your

employer discriminates against you because you are

involved in legally protected safety and health activities

or report any of the following:

■ Environmental concerns.

■ Potential securities fraud.

■ Violations of Department of Transportation rules and

regulations pertaining to commercial motor carriers.

■ Violations of Federal Aviation Administration rules

and regulations.

■ Violations of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules

and regulations.

You may file a complaint with OSHA if your

employer discriminates against you because you are

involved in protected safety or health concerns; you

report protected environmental concerns or safety

concerns involving the trucking, nuclear power, airline

or pipeline industries; or you report potential

securities fraud. Specific whistleblower provisions in

different laws vary.

What laws with whistleblower

protections does OSHA enforce?

OSHA administers the whistleblower provisions of

the following laws. Note that complaints must be

reported to OSHA within set time periods following

the alleged discrimination as prescribed by each law

listed below.

■ Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act

(90 days)

■ Clean Air Act (30 days)

■ Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation and Liability Act (30 days)

■ Energy Reorganization Act (180 days)

■ Federal Water Pollution Control Act (30 days)

■ International Safety Container Act (60 days)

■ Pipeline Safety Improvement Act (180 days)

■ Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSH Act)

(30 days)

■ Safe Drinking Water Act (30 days)

■ Sarbanes-Oxley Act (90 days)

■ Solid Waste Disposal Act (30 days)

■ Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA)

(180 days)

■ Toxic Substances Control Act (30 days)

■ Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform

Act (90 days)

What discriminatory actions do the

whistleblower provisions prohibit?

Employer retaliation against employees who

exercise their legal rights is prohibited. Such

discrimination may include the following actions:

■ Assigning to

undesirable shifts

■ Blacklisting

■ Damaging financial

credit

■ Demoting

■ Denying overtime or

promotion

■ Disallowing benefits

■ Disciplining

■ Evicting from company

housing

■ Failing to hire or

rehire

■ Firing or laying off

■ Intimidating

■ Transferring

■ Reassigning work

■ Reducing pay or hours

How do I file a complaint?

If you believe your employer discriminated against

you because you exercised your legal rights as an

employee, contact your local OSHA office as soon as

possible because you must file your complaint within

the legal time limits. You can telephone, or fax, or mail

your complaint to the OSHA office listed on the OSHA

website at www.osha.gov. OSHA conducts an in-depth

interview with each complainant to determine the need

for an investigation. If evidence supports the worker’s

claim of discrimination, OSHA will ask the employer to

restore the worker’s job, earnings, and benefits.

If only safety or health issues under the OSH Act

are involved, you also can file a complaint with your

state if your state operates an OSHA-approved state

plan, and the state will investigate your allegation. In

addition, state and local government workers in these

states (and states with public-employee-only state

plans) may file complaints with the state. For details,

see http://www.osha.gov/fso/osp/index.html.

Does the OSH Act protect me if I refuse to

work?

You should be careful when exercising your limited

right to refuse to do a job because conditions are

hazardous. You only have legal protection under the

OSH Act when all of the following apply:

■ You must believe you face death or serious injury.

And the situation must be so clearly hazardous that

a reasonable person would agree with your view

that the hazard might cause death or serious injury.

■ The situation must be so urgent that you don’t have

time to eliminate the danger through regulatory

channels.

■ You must have tried, without success, to get your

employer to correct the dangerous condition.
2003

Even though your union contract or state law may

give the right to refuse work, OSHA cannot enforce

your contract or state law. Other laws with whistleblower protection also may protect your refusal to

work for safety, health, or other reasons. Regardless

of the unsafe condition, the employee should never

walk off the job. For details see http://www.osha.gov/

as/opa/worker/refuse.html.

Do I have any protection if I work in the

transportation industry?

Drivers of buses and freight trucks involved in

the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles are

protected against discriminatory actions by their

employers if the following apply:

■ The commercial motor vehicle has a gross vehicle

weight rating of more than 10,001 pounds.

■ The vehicle is designed to carry ten or more

passengers, including the driver.

■ The employee refuses to violate, or reports

violations of, Department of Transportation motor

carrier safety regulations.

Workers involved in international shipping who

report unsafe shipping containers are also protected.

Employees of air carriers, their contractors or

subcontractors, who raise safety concerns or violations

of FAA rules and regulations may also have

discrimination protection. In addition, employers,

owners, and operators of pipelines, their contractors

and subcontractors, who report violations of pipeline

safety rules and regulations may also be protected

against discriminatory actions.

Do I have any protection if I voice

environmental concerns?

Yes, a number of laws protect workers who report

violations of environmental laws related to drinking

water and water pollution, toxic substances, solid

waste disposal, air quality and air pollution, asbestos

in schools, and hazardous waste disposal sites. The

Energy Reorganization Act protects workers in the

nuclear power industry who raise safety concerns.

Do I have any protection if I report that

my employer has engaged in corporate

fraud?

Employees who work for publicly traded companies

are protected from discriminatory acts by their

employers, or any officer, employee, contractor,

subcontractor or agent of the company because they

provided information, caused information to be

provided, or assisted in an investigation by a federal

regulatory or law enforcement agency, a Member or

committee of Congress or an employee’s supervisor, or

filed, caused to be filed, participated in or assisted in

a proceeding, relating to an alleged violation of mail

fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, or securities fraud;

violating Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

rules or regulations or federal laws relating to fraud

against shareholders.

How can I get more information on safety

and health?

For more information on whistleblower statutes,

please visit the Department of Labor website at

http://0-www.oalj.dol.gov.library.csuhayward.edu/

libwhist.htm. Or go to www.osha.gov, click on W in

the site index, then click on Whistleblowers. In

addition, OSHA has various publications, standards,

technical assistance, and compliance tools to help you,

and offers extensive assistance through workplace

consultation, voluntary protection programs, grants,

strategic partnerships, state plans, training, and

education. OSHA’s Safety and Health Program

Management Guidelines (Federal Register 54:3904-

3916, January 26, 1989) detail elements critical to

the development of a successful safety and health

management system. This and other information are

available on OSHA’s website.

■ For one free copy of OSHA publications, send a selfaddressed mailing label to OSHA Publications

Office, 200 Constitution Avenue N.W., N-3101,

Washington, DC 20210; or send a request to our

fax at (202) 693-2498, or call us toll-free at (800)

321-OSHA.

■ To order OSHA publications online, go to

www.osha.gov, find Newsroom in the side bar on

the right, click on Publications, and follow the

instructions for ordering.

■ To file a complaint by phone, report an emergency,

or get OSHA advice, assistance, or products, visit

us at www.osha.gov, or contact your nearest OSHA

office, or call toll-free at (800) 321-OSHA (6742).

The teletypewriter (TTY) number is (877) 889-5627.

■ To file a complaint online or obtain more information

on OSHA federal and state programs, visit OSHA’s

website.

This is one in a series of informational fact sheets highlighting OSHA programs, policies, or standards. It does not impose

any new compliance requirements. For a comprehensive list of compliance requirements of OSHA standards or regulations,

refer to Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This information will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals

upon request. The voice phone is (202) 693-1999. See also OSHA’s website at www.osha.gov.