OSHA's Complaint Response Policies: OSHA Credits Its Complaint System with Conserving Agency Resources, but the System Still Warrants Improvement
GAO-04-658
Published: Jun 18, 2004. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2004.
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Highlights
Each year, OSHA receives thousands of complaints from employees alleging hazardous conditions at their worksites. How OSHA responds to these complaints--either by inspecting the worksite or through some other means--has important implications for both the agency's resources and worker safety and health. Responding to invalid or erroneous complaints would deplete inspection resources that could be used to inspect or investigate other worksites. Not responding to complaints that warrant action runs counter to the agency's mission to protect worker safety and health. Considering OSHA's limited resources, and the importance of worker safety, GAO was asked: (1) What is OSHA's current policy for responding to complaints in a way that conserves its resources, (2) how consistently is OSHA responding to complaints, and (3) to what extent have complaints led OSHA to identify serious hazards?
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Labor | The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health to instruct area offices to pursue practices to improve the quality of information they receive from complainants, such as reminding complainants of the penalties for providing false information, conducting outreach to employees regarding hazards, and encouraging employers to have safety committees that could initially address complaints. |
Closed – Implemented
We recommended that the Department of Labor take steps to improve the quality of information they receive from complainants. This could include such actions as reminding complainants of the penalties for providing false information, conducting outreach to employees regarding hazards, and encouraging employers to have safety committees that could initially address complaints. According to the Director of Enforcement, in response to our recommendation, the agency made the warning on the complaint form regarding false complaints more prominent http://www.osha.gov/pls/osha7/eComplaintForm.html.) The agency also added a new web page that allowed employees to educate themselves about hazards using a pull down menu for various types of hazards. (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/index.html). According to the Director, this page was added after our report. In their update to our recommendations, the agency said they encourage the formation of safety committees
|
| Department of Labor | The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health to take steps to ensure that area offices are consistently implementing the agency's policies and procedures for handling complaints. As a first step, the agency should update and revise the 1996 directive. |
Closed – Implemented
OSHA revised its Complaint Policies and Procedures Directive and published it in June 2006.
|
| Department of Labor | In revising the directive, the Secretary of Labor should update and clarify who evaluates complaints. |
Closed – Implemented
In the revised directive, Labor clarified who could evaluate complaints by specifying that an Area Director's designee could do so.
|
| Department of Labor | The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health to develop a system for ensuring the regions complete audits. |
Closed – Implemented
OSHA instruction EAA 01-00-03, which revises instructions in EAA 01-00-002, contains steps for ensuring that regions complete audits. According to OSHA, during FY 2006 and the first eleven (11) months of FY 2007, forty-five (45) comprehensive, on-site audits of field offices have been conducted covering approximately half of OSHA's area offices. In accordance with Paragraph X.C.4 of the field audit directive, a summary report for each audit has been submitted to OSHA's Director of Evaluation and Analysis for National Office review, within 30 days of completion, and copies of the full audit reports and responses are maintained by the OSHA Regional Office.
|
| Department of Labor | The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health to develop a system for using the audit results to improve consistency of the complaint process. |
Closed – Implemented
As a way to improve the consistency of the complaint process, all audits will address penalty determination and processes for abating violation. Checklists developed for identifying audit topics include items related to the complaint process.
|
| Department of Labor | In revising the directive, the Secretary of Labor should update and clarify how complainants are advised of the process. |
Closed – Implemented
According to OSHA, it has procedures for advising claimants of the complaint process that follow from the way the complaint is filed. If the information is submitted via telephone, the agency will describe the complaint process, and if appropriate, the concepts of "inquiry" and "inspection," as well as the relative advantages of each. If the complaint is filed via the Internet, there is a page devoted to The Federal OSHA Complaint Handling Process available via the Workers section.
|
| Department of Labor | In revising the directive, the Secretary of Labor should update and clarify how written and signed complaints are evaluated. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Although Labor revised the directive, the new directive did not address this recommendation.
|
| Department of Labor | In revising the directive, the Secretary of Labor should update and clarify how to verify the employment status of complainants. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Although Labor revised the directive, the new directive did not address this recommendation.
|
| Department of Labor | In revising the directive, the Secretary of Labor should update and clarify how to treat e-mail complaints. |
Closed – Implemented
The revised direction contains a section entitled "Electronic Complaints Received via the OSHA Public Website," which updates and clarifies how electronic complaints are handled.
|
| Department of Labor | In revising the directive, the Secretary of Labor should update and clarify how to address complaints involving hazards for which the agency has no specific standard. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Although Labor revised the directive, the new directive did not address this recommendation.
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Health hazardsInspectionOccupational health standardsOccupational safetyPolicy evaluationSafety regulationSafety standardsWorking conditionsComplaints processingWorkplace safety