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On January 28, 2016, OSHA released an updated Whistleblower Investigations Manual (OSHA Instruction CPL 02-03-005) to replace the manual dated April 21, 2015. The new manual makes three significant changes:

  1. The sections on Investigative Records and Statistics have been deleted. Investigative Records is covered in the new Chapter 23, “Information Disclosure.”
  2. Chapter 3, “Conduct of

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The National Labor Relations Board issued  Memoradum OM 14-77 on August 8, 2014, informing all regional directors and resident officers that they should notify parties of their right to file a complaint with OSHA if they believe that an employer may have violated a health or safety standard or an anti-retaliation provision of the Occupational…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”).  The MOU is intended to facilitate coordination and cooperation between the two agencies when enforcing the anti-retaliation provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (“STAA”), 49 U.S.C. § 31105, and the anti-coercion…

Representative George Miller (D-CA) recently reintroduced a bill (H.R. 1649) that would provide whistleblower protections to certain workers in the offshore oil and gas industry.  The bill was first introduced in 2010 and again in 2011. Continue Reading Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2013 Introduced Into the House

Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Dr. David Michaels has appointed Beth Slavet as the new director of the agency’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Ms. Slavet is an employment attorney who has specialized in representing unions, Foreign Service employees and other government workers, with a focus on whistleblower protection. Her appointment…

In a recent memorandum to Regional Administrators and Whistleblower Program Managers, Richard Fairfax, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA, has provided "guidance to both field compliance officers and whistleblower investigative staff on several employer practices that can discourage employee reports of injuries and violate section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH…

On March 1, 2012, OSHA announced a change to its organizational structure related to its Whistleblower Protection Program (WPP).  The WPP will now report directly to the Assistant Secretary of OSHA, currently Dr. David Michaels, instead of the Director of the Directorate of Enforcement Programs.

The WPP is in charge of investigating workplace retaliation complaints made by…

During a particularly busy September, OSHA issued three new enforcement directives that employers should review:

Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting Workplace Violence Incidents.  On September 8, 2011, OSHA issued its first ever directive instructing compliance officers on how to conduct inspections that occur as a result of workplace violence incidents.  The directive "clarifies and expands" OSHA policies in…