Vulnerable workers could soon be empowered to have more of a voice when raising the alarm on safety issues and advocating for better working conditions. A new OSHA proposal, now in the final rule stage, would allow workers to have a third-party representative present during the agency’s safety inspections, Documented reported last week.
The rule, which was initially proposed in August, would enable all workers, unionized or otherwise, to call on a representative of their choosing—be it a union leader, attorney, or workers’ rights advocate—to join them during the “walkaround” portion of an inspection, which OSHA often conducts in response to complaints or serious incidents. (The choice of representative does, however, need to be approved by the OSHA officer assigned to the inspection.) Until now, OSHA has required that the representative be an employee of the company in question, with the exception of cases where the agency deems it necessary to bring in a specialist—often an industrial hygienist or safety engineer, examples that are named in OSHA’s existing rule.
When the rule was first proposed, Doug Parker, the assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, noted in a statement that the goal was to “make inspections more effective and ultimately make workplaces safer by increasing opportunities for employees to be represented in the inspection process,” in keeping with the original intent of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. If implemented, the final rule could be particularly important to ensure job security for undocumented workers and other marginalized employees, who are less likely to raise concerns about workplace safety because they fear retaliation. It could also help bridge language barriers in workplaces that employ a lot of immigrants or non-English speakers.
According to the National Employment Law Project, workers have historically found it difficult to get approval for representatives that they select. The OSHA rule would eliminate the language that currently cites industrial hygienists and safety engineers as examples of representatives, in an effort to clarify that many other types of representatives are also welcome.
After a period of fielding public comments, OSHA has now issued a final rule, though it still needs to be reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is part of the Office of Management and Budget. While there was expected pushback from employers, a number of organizations have shown their support for the rule change, including more than 65 groups that advocate for workers’ rights.
“Sadly, workers have a well-grounded fear of retaliation against those who speak up about safety problems, including the threat of getting fired,” Jessica Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said in a statement in November. “Including a representative selected by workers can overcome obstacles and improve communication during the inspection process. That creates a better opportunity to identify and correct safety problems that put workers at risk.”
