Wyoming Administrative Code › Agency 053 - Workforce Services, Department of › Sub-Agency 0014 - OSHA - Practice And Procedure › Chapter 3 - ENFORCEMENT › Section 3-3 - Complaints By Employees

Current through July 13, 2024
(a) Any employee or
				representative of employees who believes that a violation of the Act or rule,
				regulation or standard promulgated under the Act, exists in any workplace where
				such employee is employed may request an inspection of such workplace by
				written notice of complaint to the Department. Any such notice shall be reduced
				to writing, shall set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the
				notice, and shall be signed by the employee or representative of employees. A
				copy shall be provided the employer or his agent by the Department
				representative no later than at the time of the inspection, except that, upon
				request of the employee or his representative giving such notice, his name and
				the names of individual employees referred to therein shall not appear in such
				copy or on any record published, released, or made available by the Department;
				in cases of alleged violation constituting imminent danger, the Compliance
				Manager may waive the requirements of written notice.
(b) If upon receipt of such notification the
				Compliance Manager determines that the complaint meets the requirements set
				forth in subsection a. of this Section, and that there are reasonable grounds
				to believe that the alleged violation exists, he shall cause an inspection to
				be made as soon as practicable, to determine if such alleged violation exists.
				Inspections under this section may exceed matters referred to in the
				complaint.
(c) During, or prior to,
				any inspection of a workplace, any employee or representative of employees
				employed in such workplace may notify the Department representative of any
				violation of the Act which they have reason to believe exists in such
				workplace.
(d) If the Department
				representative determines that an inspection is not warranted because there are
				no reasonable grounds to believe that an alleged violation or danger exists
				with respect to a complaint, he shall notify the complaining party in writing
				of such determination. The complaining party may obtain review of such
				determination by submitting a written statement of position to the OSHA Deputy
				Administrator. Upon request of the complaining party, the OSHA Deputy
				Administrator may hold an informal conference in which the complaining party
				may present his views. After considering all written and oral views presented,
				the OSHA Deputy Administrator shall affirm, modify, or reverse the
				determination of the Department representative and furnish the complaining
				party a written notification of his decision and reasons. The decision of the
				OSHA Deputy Administrator shall be final and not subject to further
				review.
(e) If the Compliance
				Manager determines that an inspection is not warranted because the requirements
				of this section have not been met, he shall notify the complaining party in
				writing of such determination. Such determination shall be without prejudice to
				the filing of a new complaint meeting the requirements of this
				section.
(f) Whenever and as soon
				as the Department representative concludes that conditions or practices exist
				in any place of employment which could reasonably be expected to cause death or
				serious physical harm immediately or before the imminence of such danger can be
				eliminated through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided by the Act, he
				shall inform the affected employees and employers of the danger and require the
				employer to cease operations immediately in order to eliminate such danger. If
				the employer does not cease operations to eliminate the danger, the Department,
				with concurrence of the Attorney General, may take action to restrain the
				employer from continuing operations where an imminent danger condition exists.
				Appropriate citations and notices of proposed penalties may be issued with
				respect to an imminent danger even though, after being informed of such danger
				by the Department representative, the employer immediately eliminates the
				imminence of the danger and initiates steps to abate such danger.
(g) Complaints from individuals other than
				current employees or their representatives.
(i) Complaints from individuals who are not
				current employees or employee representatives, such as complaints by an
				ex-employee, concerned citizen, etc. do not constitute formal complaints under
				the criteria set forth in this section. These complaints will be treated as
				non-formal, where the employer is notified of allegations and are sent to the
				employer by facsimile or letter.
(ii) Non-formal imminent danger complaints.
				If, on the basis of evaluation of a non-formal complaint, it appears an
				imminent danger situation may be involved, an inspection will be conducted
				immediately, if resources are available.