As Valentine’s Day is upon us (and Happy Statehood Day to my friends down in Arizona), this is often seen as a holiday about love and acceptance and tolerance for others, not just those closest to us.
It is said that we should also love our enemies as much as our friends, but sometimes that could mean loving people who aren’t necessarily enemies but are adversarial to us in certain situations.
instead of being so cryptic, I will get right to it.
Blowing the Whistle
Workplaces are supposed to be safe spaces for people to work without fear of illness or injury, even as risks are present. We have preached all along how important it is for safety to be a bottom-up effort, with the rank-and-file workers being as observant and watchful about risks and hazards as supervisors and managers. And being able to comfortably report any injuries, illnesses or hazards to the appropriate person in the chain so the issuse is reported and addressed is also vitally important to a safe workplace.
However, there are some companies who have, shall we say, unfriendly policies toward reporting illnesses or injuries outside of its normal chain, and those who do so because it is the right thing to do are called “whistleblowers.” While that can have a positive connotation, it has taken on a negative connotation as well (think Edward Snowden).
The Whistle Down the Throat
While everyone wants a safe workplace, sometimes people within a company will have different avenues to reach that standard. And when that happens, whistleblowers can face retaliation from managers, supervisors, safety officers or anyone else if a person decides to report an injury or illness outside the regular reporting channels.
It does happen sometimes, that in a company’s pursuit of zero incidents, they could impress some pressure or at least some disincentive to report injuries and illnesses on the worksite. In these situations, whistleblowers can be under tremendous pressure when they go outside the normal chain and perhaps go public or report an unreported illness or injury to a state or federal workplace safety organization.
Protection
Some companies think it is better to intimidate a whistleblower and face those consequences than it is to defy law and regulation about workplace safety. However, we could all use a reminder that whistleblowers do have a protection within the safety industry.
OSHA, like many other U.S. federal agencies, has provisions that protect whistleblowers from retaliation by other company employees or executives. The provisions, which are included in new injury and illness recordkeeping rules that went into effect this past December, address those who blow the whistle on a lack of reporting or lack of investigation when it comes to a workplace incident.
The anti-retaliation rules are part of a new infographic created by ASSE that helps walk people through the rules, the consequences of retaliation and the protections that are afforded whistleblowers to encourage them to do the right thing and come forward so safety issues can be addressed before another incident occurs.
If you would like to access the infographic and use it to educate and inform your safety professionals and others, you can check out this link.