How To Respond to a Health and Safety Complaint

Workplace health and safety affects more than just the employees in the office. It also influences the other parties that interact with the space, from visitors to delivery professionals and maintenance workers. Making sure your office space meets OSHA standards and maintains healthy and safe practices protects all parties that encounter your workspace.

Due to the seriousness and importance of one’s health and safety, any violations or complaints come with hefty consequences, especially when not addressed properly. Here is how to respond to a health and safety complaint and how to keep your office in OSHA’s good books.

What Is a Health and Safety Complaint?

Health and safety complaints are people’s concerns about your workplace. They can be about a wide range of issues, from malicious practices and poor employee treatment to building hazards and cleanliness concerns. No matter the issue on hand, complaints come in at any moment and are typically unexpected and filed anonymously.

Employee Complaints

Employee complaints are concerns and issues brought directly from a team member in your business. They are either filed straight to you and human resources or through OSHA.

Employee complaints require a more sensitive handling process due to the risks of potential employer retaliation. Any signs of retaliation—abuse, revoked benefits, demotion, or different treatment than other employees—can lead to more violations and issues.

General Public Concerns

General public concerns are complaints filed by anyone else that visited or used your services, from customers to official OSHA inspectors. These reports are typically brought straight to OSHA and other government health and safety committees or through media exploitation (which gets brought to OSHA’s attention).

What Happens When a Complaint Is Issued?

After reports are filed to OSHA, the concerns are brought to the employer(s) of the business in question. Someone from the OSHA committee may phone and describe the alleged violations and areas of concern. They then send a follow-up fax and letters that also note the details of the complaint, creating an official violation ticket requiring immediate addressing before further consequences occur, if applicable.

Best Practices for Responding to Complaints

How you respond to health and safety complaints greatly influences what happens next. It influences potential other concerns and violation breaches, consequences, and the future of your business. Despite the shock and panic that might arise from receiving the bad news, implementing some best practices for responses makes sure everything goes smoothly.

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Getting a call from OSHA sparks a lot of anxiety and panic. For those that fall under the latter of flight and fight reactions, a lot of that panic and anger gets thrown toward the other end of the conversation. Instead of shooting the messenger, the best way to respond to a complaint call is to do the following:

  • Listen to what the OSHA member has to say.
  • Avoid asking questions about the allegations.
  • Avoid denying or agreeing to the accusations (on the phone).

Any rebuttal, arguing, denial, or agreement can be used against your case. Until you’ve investigated the issue yourself, it’s best to remain neutral and simply take in the given information from the phone call. After all, the call is just a formality of bringing the complaint to your attention and not a final judgment on your case.

Respect the Privacy of the Reporter

The people who issued a complaint are protected under OSHA’s whistleblower act. The policy ensures reporters do not receive maltreatment for their complaints, allowing employees to feel safe and encouraged to bring up their concerns.

Removing the whistleblower from the complaint and focusing on the concern within itself makes sure you avoid any whistleblower violations and respects the right and privacy of the reporter. The main goal should be focused on resolving the alleged issue rather than on who brought it to concern.

Take the Concern Seriously

Whether the accusation is true, take the concern seriously. Potential risks can put people’s lives in danger, especially in medical workplaces such as dental offices, veterinary clinics, and general medical services. In some cases, the severity of the issue can even lead to serious injury.

Instead of brushing aside the accusation or leaving it as a low-priority concern, make sure you act fast, investigate the concern thoroughly, and resolve the issue immediately. No matter the complaint, address all issues as a serious and immediate concern.

Evaluate the Issue on Hand

After receiving the call, the next big step is to evaluate and investigate the concern. Look over the follow-up notes, check out the reported area, person, or object, and gather as much information as possible. If you feel falsely accused, gather data that proves you are in compliance with health and safety standards.

For added reassurance on your investigation, hire a professional inspector. The sooner you evaluate the issue on hand, the better. OSHA expects responses and solutions within fifteen days of your receipt of a formal written citation.

Mitigate the Issue and Provide Proof

Information required of you to provide in your response include written identifications of problems found and action plans for resolving the concerns. Approved and sufficient responses lead to no further action. If concerns still remain, then an inspection is scheduled. Failure to resolve major concerns results in violation fines.

Remain Honest and Transparent

In your response and evaluation, remain honest and transparent. Any lies will simply lead to more severe repercussions. Numerous factors play into the rise of workplace concerns. Those factors are sometimes caused by accidents or improper training education.

Instead of trying to cover mistakes made, acknowledge them and act on them. Most raised concerns are made because someone feels unsafe—whether an employee, visitor, or general public—and not because someone wants to ruin your business. Admitting and addressing those concerns increases the health and safety of all parties that engage with your workplace.

Whether you simply want to prepare for possible future situations or if you are currently working through an OSHA citation, keep these tips on how to respond to a health and safety complaint at hand. Following proper procedures and practices makes sure you keep everyone safe, avoid additional violations, and maintain a successful work environment.

Check out Gamma Compliance Solution’s OSHA training manuals and guides to properly educate yourself and your team on remaining OSHA compliant. We even offer dental OSHA training that specifically goes over OSHA requirements for those in dentistry. Keep your business and workplace healthy and safe for everyone with OSHA compliance training and other best practices.

How To Respond to a Health and Safety Complaint