Guidebook
If you are concerned about hazards in your workplace, the following are some steps you can take to protect your health and safety. Each step has links to fact sheets that will assist you.
If you belong to a union, be sure to speak with your steward about safety and health concerns. Workers and unions should address health and safety improvements as they would an organizing campaign – increasing pressure on the employer as needed to achieve your goals.
Develop an Action Plan
Think carefully with your co-workers/union about what steps would be most effective in your workplace.
- Step 1: Brainstorm the full range of approaches that are possible. Use the organizing action checklist (click link) to assist you.
- Step 2: Review the pros and the cons of each. Consider how your employer will respond and whether you need to have multiple actions at the same time.
- Step 3: Try to get agreement on your action plan, and make sure your timetable is clear (i.e.- If one step doesn’t work when you will proceed to the next step?)
You will need to consider how your employer will respond. Some employers will address unsafe working conditions if workers provide concrete information about what the hazards are and ways they can be addressed.
Other employers will need various forms of pressure: being informed that they are violating a law and threat or actual visit by an enforcement agency; pressure from workers and their union (where possible), and/or pressure from external supporters (customers, community organizations, elected officials).
Advantages and disadvantages of filing a complaint with an enforcement agency:
Pros: When you have a hazard that is clearly a violation of a state or federal law, it may be helpful to call an enforcement agency – especially when the danger can cause workers serious harm. This may be especially helpful when an employer is ignoring workers’ complaints and when done along with other pressure strategies.
Cons: However, if the hazards are not an actual violation of any regulation or standard there are risks involved in calling in an enforcement agency. For example, OSHA has no specific standard for unhealthy indoor air quality, so calling in OSHA because of a mold problem means risking an investigation that results in no citations or fines. In this case, the employer may then make it clear to workers that s/he is in the right, that the workplace is completely safe, and that whoever complained is a trouble-maker.
Using public pressure from customers and community supporters
Sometimes employers will respond if they fear that not doing so will result in losing customers, gaining negative media attention and/or receiving calls from elected officials. Do a thorough analysis of all the public pressure possible. Who are the customers – are any of them public agencies who would be concerned about how their money is being spent?
If the employer retaliates against any workers involved in taking action around health and safety issues, take immediate steps to address it. OSHA and the NLRB provide some protections against retaliation – and both have quick deadlines.
Investigate
Investigate whether the hazards are a violation of any local, state or federal laws, or a violation of your collective bargaining process (if you are unionized).
In some cases, employers may only respond if they think the government is going to cite or fine them, so try to determine whether your safety or health problem violates any state or federal laws.
Below are some, but not all, of the agencies that may be applicable:
OSHA
The main government agency responsible for worker health and safety is the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). On March 9, 2018 Governor Baker signed a bill that amends M.G.L. chapter 149 §6 ½. The law was updated to clarify employee safety requirements in public sector workplaces – defined public sector to include municipalities, counties, quasi-public entities, public colleges and universities, etc. – and set OSHA as the minimum standard.
The law went into effect on 2/1/19. Additional information can be found below:
https://www.mass.gov/news/osha-safety-for-public-sector-highlights-of-updated-law-mgl-c149-ss6-12
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/learn-about-updated-law-for-public-sector-safety
Mass. Division of Occupational Safety (DOS)
DOS can investigate concerns regarding indoor air quality, lead, and asbestos. They also can enforce state laws that provide safety and health protections for municipal workers, as well as chemical hazards under the Right to Know Law for all municipal, state and county employees.
Local Board of Health
Some health and safety hazards may be a violation of the state building or local health code. For example, Massachusetts building code includes requirements regarding “unsafe ventilation” which some health departments interpret to include ventilation to ensure reasonable temperatures.
Other agencies that may encompass some environmental health and safety regulations are the US Environmental Protection Agency, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, and the state’s Department of Public Health.
Other agencies that address other worker rights issues include (but are not limited to):
- The state Office of the Attorney General – for wage and hour and Child Labor laws
- The state Commission Against Discrimination – for discrimination and sexual harassment
- The National Labor Relation’s Board – for retaliation against workers who, working as a group, speak up about their rights.
For unionized workplaces, workers can file a grievance to contest a violation of their contract, if health and safety languages exist or a change in working conditions – such as undergoing renovations or a new work process that exposes workers to chemicals or other hazards. However, grievance alone may not result in a change and other tactics may be necessary.
Gather Info about the Hazards
If you work with chemicals, write down the name of the chemical so you can get specific information about its dangers. Also use our fact sheets and information to help you identify hazards and how to address them.
This information will be helpful as you begin to identify what issues you want to bring directly to your employer or to a government enforcement agency, and what solutions your employer should consider.
The employer is supposed to keep Material Safety Data Sheets at your worksite, which provides information about the chemicals with which you work. Requirements are different for employees in the private sector (Hazard Communication Standard) and public sector.
Click here for more info on this Hazard Communication Standard.
Document/Track Problems
Work with co-workers to document all of the hazards on the job. Some tools for doing this include:
- Developing a checklist of all the potential hazards in your workplace.
- Drawing a map of the workplace and mark unsafe/unhealthy conditions.
- Drawing a body map to mark parts of the body that workers are getting injured and/or writing down a list of the injuries/health problems workers have experienced.
- Get copies of health and safety documents from your employer, such as inspection reports and a copy of injury log
Also, ask your co-workers to keep a notebook and write down any work-related injuries and illnesses (including dates), dangers and accidents (even if they don’t cause an injury/illness).
While you are tracking health and safety dangers, identify other potential worker rights violations, such as wage and hour violations, discrimination, sexual harassment, etc. Go: Basic Worker Rights Fact Sheet.
Get copies of health and safety documents from your employer, such as inspection reports and a copy of your company’s injury log.
Go: Injury and Inspection Records fact sheet.
Get Together With Co-Workers
If you have an unsafe/unhealthy job, your co-workers probably do too. Avoid taking action alone. If you approach your employer with a group of workers and ideas about injury prevention, your boss is more likely to listen.
Although it is against the law to retaliate against workers who speak up about health and safety concerns, employers frequently do– either by giving workers bad shifts or worse work, fewer promotions or even firing them. You have rights to protection against retaliation under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and if you work with a group, you will have additional protections under the National Labor Relations Act.
Meet with co-workers privately. If they share your concerns, work with them on the next steps. Be prepared for differences among co-workers – some will be eager to work with you and be actively involved; others may be too afraid to do anything; while others may be willing to speak with you but not willing to participate in any of the action steps.
Ideally you will have a core group of workers who can gather information, develop an action plan and remain together as a permanent safety committee, to keep an eye on progress and raise safety/health concerns as they come up.
Know Your Rights
It is important to know your rights so you can tell if your employer is following the law. There are several state and federal laws that offer protections to workers. State and federal health and safety laws protect all workers, regardless of immigration status.
Unionized workers have the right to bargain over changes in working conditions, such as those that may result from renovations at their workplace or a new work process that exposes workers to chemicals or other hazards. Although unions may not have the right to bargain over the substance of renovation plans or the decision to implement a new work process, they do have the right to bargain over the impact of those changes on their unit members.
There are several state and federal laws that offer protections to workers (See below for the Worker’s Rights Fact Sheet). All workers have the right to information about dangers in the workplace and to speak up about unsafe conditions without being punished. All workers have the right to file for workers’ compensation, if you’ve been injured or made sick at work.