Complaining or Requesting Hazard Correction
Workers may bring up safety and health concerns in the workplace to their employers without fear of discharge or discrimination, as long as the complaint is made in good faith.
OSHA regulations [29CFR 1977.9(c)] protect workers who complain to their employer about unsafe or unhealthful conditions in the workplace. You cannot be transferred, denied a raise, have your hours reduced, be fired, or punished in any other way because you have exercised any right afforded to you under the OSH Act.
Workers are often closest to potential safety and health hazards and have a vested interest in reporting problems so that the employer gets them fixed. Once a worker has reported a hazard to the employer, OSHA considers it a "recognized hazard" and the employer has an obligation to correct it. If nothing is done to correct it, workers then have the right to contact OSHA.
Training Rights
You have a right to get training from your employer on a variety of health and safety hazards and standards that your employer must follow. We've already discussed the training required under OSHA's Hazard Communication (Right to Know) standard. Other required training includes lockout-tagout, bloodborne pathogens, noise, confined spaces, fall hazards in construction, personal protective equipment, and a variety of other subjects.
Refusal to Work
Workers have the right to refuse to do a job if they believe in good faith that they are exposed to an imminent danger. "Good faith" means that even if an imminent danger is not found to exist, the worker had reasonable grounds to believe that it did exist.
The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling which more clearly defined a worker's right to refuse work where an employee has reasonable apprehension that death or serious injury or illness might occur as a result of performing the work. However, as a general rule, you do not have the right to walk off the job because of unsafe conditions.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-5. If reported workplace hazards are not getting corrected by the employer, employees have a right to _____.
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