The OSHA website states: If you have an EMERGENCY (EX: to report a fatality or imminent life-threatening situation) Please contact the toll-free number immediately:
1-800-321-OSHA (6742)
This number is the direct OSHA safety hotline number. It is to be used in situations as it states above, involving a fatality or imminent life-threatening circumstances.
OSHA Safety Hotline Standards
OSHA standards are rules that describe the methods that employers must use to protect their employees from hazards. There are OSHA standards for Construction work, Maritime operations, Agriculture, and General Industry, which is the set that applies to most worksites. A violation of these standards would be something to contact the hotline to report. Examples of OSHA standards include requirements for employers to:
- provide fall protection;
- prevent trenching cave-ins;
- prevent exposure to some infectious diseases;
- ensure the safety of workers who enter confined spaces;
- prevent exposure to harmful chemicals;
- put guards on dangerous machines;
- provide respirators or other safety equipment; and
- provide training for certain dangerous jobs in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.
Employers must also comply with the General Duty Clause of the OSHA Act, which requires employers to keep their workplace free of serious recognized hazards. This clause is generally cited when no OSHA standard applies to the hazard.
In other words, if you are in a position to identify what you believe to be a dangerous condition that creates a threat to life or has caused serious injury or death, you may contact this number. Although this number appears to be a general number for OSHA violations, the website also directs contact for emergency situations to this number.
Texas also has a Safety Violations Hotline that invites contact for health and safety hazards. That number is: 1-800-452-9595. This involves reporting directly to the Texas Department of Insurance.
The objective of the Safety Violations Hotline is to identify and eliminate workplace hazards to the safety and/or health of the employees of Texas. It provides a means for employees to take a proactive role in addressing workplace safety and health issues.
- The Safety Violations Hotline Program is a bilingual, 24-hour, toll-free telephone line for employees to report unsafe working conditions.
- Employers are required to post notices in English and Spanish informing employees of the existence of the program (see links below to download notices). They are prohibited from taking any action against employees, who in good faith, report violations.
- The hazards reported through the Safety Violations Hotline Program are researched, investigated, and eliminated through a cooperative effort among the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC), employers, and insurance carriers (if applicable).
- The Safety Violations Hotline Program is an on-going program, in keeping with the TDI-DWC goal of preventing injuries and illnesses to employees.
- Violations may be reported online.
These numbers are available on the respective OSHA and Texas.gov websites. They are good for use to report a dangerous condition that involves a worker’s safety. We encourage everyone to be diligent in their observations as they go through their everyday lives. The regulators can’t be everywhere, all the time, and need the eyes and ears of the public in order to help prevent tragic, unnecessary, and preventable accidents.
Written by:
Brian Berryman
Watts Guerra LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone (210) 447-0500
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
