On this day in labor history, the year was 2012.
That was the day OSHA released its memorandum titled, “Employer Safety Incentive and Disincentive Practices.”
It addressed compliance officers and whistleblower investigators.
It touched on employer practices that discourage the reporting of injuries and illnesses on the job.
The memorandum stated that employee reporting is a protected right.
It also asserted that employer discouragement could constitute a violation of whistleblower statutes like Section 11(c) of the OSH Act and recordkeeping regulations.
OSHA emphasized that the likelihood of discouragement and discrimination increases when safety programs are linked to lower reported injuries and illnesses.
The memorandum outlines four common scenarios:
1) When an employer disciplines workers injured on the job. Employees must have a way to report injuries and illnesses.
2) When an employer disciplines workers for the time or manner in which they report an injury.
3) When a worker is disciplined for an injury as a result of violating a safety rule. OSHA asks: does the employer monitor the workplace regularly for safety compliance? Does the employer mete out discipline equally, regardless of injury?
And finally, the memorandum stresses the need to examine the kind of safety program implemented.
Does the program provide incentives to dissuade workers from reporting injuries and illnesses?
Are prizes or bonuses awarded when reported injuries decrease?
Discouraging and disciplining workers for reporting could be considered unlawfully discriminatory.
It also violates the employer’s obligation to document injuries and illnesses.
OSHA notes there are positive ways to implement safety practices.
Examples include rewarding workers who identify hazards, participate in investigations, and offer suggestions on how to make the job safer or complete safety training.
February 21 - The First Female Telephone Operator
February 20 - Angelina Grimke is Born
February 19 - Philly Street Car Workers Spark General Strike
February 18 - Anti-Slavery Begins in America
February 17 - Standing Up By Sitting Down
February 16 - The Wisconsin Uprising Begins
February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close
February 14 - Kansas City Laundresses Walk Off the Job
February 13 - Martial Law Declared to Crush the UAW
February 12 - The NAACP is Founded
February 11 - Cutting Corners on Safety at Sequoyah I
February 10 - Forty-Three Workers Buried Alive
February 9 - Organizing Bloody Harlan
February 8 - Butte Copper Miners Join the 1919 Strike Wave
February 7 - Strike at Cripple Creek
February 6 - Philly Garment Workers Win!
February 5 - The Fight for Craft Governance
February 4 - Solidarity on the Coast
February 3 - Anti-Trust Injunctions Used Against Labor
February 2 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
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