[Isamu]

So here is my problem. The company I work for makes people get on a pallet and lifted up to change lights in the warehouse. Also they have an emergency exit locked with a do not use sign on it. I was willing to overlook these thing until this morning. This being my night off I scheduled a doctors appointment and took my car to the shop for some maintenance. My company got mad because they scheduled a company meeting at 5 and wanted me there. I was called out before I left this morning and was told how they wanted me to schedule things during my personal time away from work. Add the fact that the meetings are scheduled to accommodate first shift and I work third. So I left work very pissed off and just sent a letter to OSHA because for some reason they don't go on phone calls alone. That is my rant. So what do you all think?

[redx1]

Those are two very big safety violation that's in need of attention. Contacting OSHA was smart, your motive made it even more enjoyable.

The locked emergency exit is more of a fire code violation than a OSHA violation. If you really want to get them in trouble, contact the local fire marshal. I'm not suggesting you do this in pure vengeance, but as a serious safety hazard that needs to be resolved.

[CurseOfTheLeek]

hmmm my post seems to have self destructed... sorry if this appears twice. router fart.
...
I've only ever called my union, but I did have to meet with OSHA several times at several jobs. One occasion was the result of almost being forklift-splattered.
But a big hats off to you!
Sometimes we must do what's right for the sake of vengeance lol

But seriously, what they're doing is just asking for trouble, and you're probably preventing some pretty big problems

[Jello]

Redx is right. Having that emergency exit door locked is a serious safety hazard. I would definitely get the fire marshall involved on that one.

[Voltaire30]

You will want to be absolutely certain what you are getting yourself into. Once OSHA gets word they can come down like a hammer on a company (fines), but I would look into the matter to see if they will use your name (because that will back fire). That said, OSHA will defiantly take their minds off of you and onto WTF can we do.

[Isamu]

Everything is confidential with OSHA. I should find out within a week if anything will happen. Damn company is getting worse everyday. It was either call OSHA or a dead hooker in the trunk of the bosses car.

[Saturn's Pheonix]

In my case we have far to many safety requirements at work though I did see my ex store manager riding the forklift blades as he was putting brick away on his last day, but I figured it was his last day and he wanted to do things we were not supposed to do on the lift because it was the only time he could. Other than that we have had several associates report to a program at our corporate level as to how our new store manager has been deliberately forcing us to keep the store open long after hours and even walking up to associates telling them to purchase items on the clock which is against our standard of procedures in order to get us to meet or exceed sales plan.

[sentinel28a]

Isamu, on 31 August 2010 - 05:08 PM, said:

Everything is confidential with OSHA. I should find out within a week if anything will happen. Damn company is getting worse everyday. It was either call OSHA or a dead hooker in the trunk of the bosses car.

Definitely did the right thing, Isamu. I second the motion on calling the fire marshal. If your bosses complain about it, tell them to Google "Cocanut Grove Fire" as to what happens when fire exits get blocked by stupid. Fire marshals also can come down harder and faster than OSHA. OSHA might fine your company--the fire marshal can threaten them with instant going out of business.

A hotel that I worked at came very close to being shut down because half our fire alarms didn't work and our extinguishers hadn't been recharged in 15 years. We had been telling the owner for years, but he and the old fire marshal had an "understanding". When the old marshal retired, the owner found out he couldn't bribe the new guy into silence.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"And that was fun to watch"

[SongstressLenne]

Funny thing is my current job has gotten in trouble with OSHA, got the fines, numerous visits and everything.

Why? Lack of proper machinery safety switches, no boundaries of what distance isn't safe near the equipment and no first aid kit present. This so happened to occur after a co-worker had his fingers gnawed at while trying to clean a machine, I wonder where the OSHA letter came from. Bless that man for blowing the whistle on my work. ;D


Honestly, go for it. If your job wants to play hardball and decide to screw with company vs personal time [especially if you are not being paid for it and have no notice] show them that taking shortcuts on safety isn't taken lightly.

[Isamu]

The part that sent me over the edge was when I mentioned I schedule my college classes on Tuesdays and the boss had the nerve to say I had permission to keep them scheduled on that day. I don't need permission seeing as how it is my day off.

[june.h]

I would've informed your boss about the lack of safety separately from this. Unless someone was directly affected by the lock on the emergency exit, no offense but it's very unprofessional to "get revenge" just because they pissed you off. It doesn't matter if it's confidential, your boss can still suspect you an find a legal reason to terminate your employment or make your work life even worse (cut hours, change your position, change your schedule, etc).

Honestly, you should've made the issue aware with your immediate supervisors, then HR. If no one in the company listens to you, then you should talk to OSHA. But just because you don't like your company doesn't mean you should use OSHA or a completely unrelated matter to be exacting a personal vendetta against your boss. Your schedule is very much their business, unless it's a dire emergency (i.e. you're bleeding to death, you just had your house broken into, your family member just died), they do have the right to get angry if you schedule something during what they feel should be company time (i.e. a company meeting).

tl;dr - You're professionally walking thin ice, be careful. If you don't like your company, you really should just quit/find a new job instead of sticking it to the man.

[Jguy]

I agree with the above.

I have lost a job just because of this reason. You should have a new job looked up before you do something like this, especially in this economy.

Some violations such as trip and fire hazards should be brought to OSHA's attention no matter what, such as maybe mold growing in the building or non-healthy work conditions. We do, however, live in a country where your employer cannot discriminate against you because you called OSHA (aka they can't fire you because you called, but they can, as Orochi says above, cut your hours or give you "grunt" work). You can remain anonymous (OSHA will "default" to this even if you don't tell them), or you or your legal counsel (in the case of an injury) can be present during an OSHA inspection.

[Isamu]

It wasn't just about revenge. The head guy is the type that will spend an hour telling you why he is right and you are wrong. I gave them two whole years to fix the problems and believe me, they knew about the problems. The company can't get new people to stay more than a month and my hours can't be cut because they are seriously under staffed. I don't care what company it is, my personal time is my personal time. This is a company that was to cheap to salt the parking lot in the winter and then got pissed at me when I slipped and knocked myself out and ended up missing two days work for strained neck muscles. This is a company that requires a twenty four hour notice when an employee gets sick. As far as figuring out who called, there is a handful of disgruntled employees.

[june.h]

The harsh truth is the company doesn't have to care what "personal time" is, if you work for the company, that's their time, including any extra meetings that isn't on your normal scheduled shifts. They hired you on their terms, they can deny your "personal time" if they want to even if you have school (unless you're going to class for continuing education for the company's sake, which I'm guessing is not the case), granted it's a jerk move but they have the right to do that. They're actually doing you the favor in working around your personal schedule and keeping you on their payroll.

Now, they can't do anything that'll compromise your job if you honestly get sick or injured (and your injury should be covered by workman's comp and THAT you should've pressed to HR as a real issue; if the company won't cover it, then you can actually press that to HR or OSHA and get some results and you have an honest-to-goodness case).

It sucks, but truth you work for a prick as a manager and you will unfortunately have to suck it up. But you should not be using unrelated matters to try to stick it to the guy, it's very unprofessional and you can burn bridges that way.

By the way, is the emergency exit locked as in a padlock or is it just a deadbolt that can be unlocked if you push the knob/bar open (like, is it one of those doors where an alarm sounds if you open it)? If it can be unlocked easily and quickly, it's not an OSHA or fire code violation.

I don't want to throw a wet blanket but you again you're taking a real risk to your job and future jobs by doing this. Your job and boss will get what's coming to them, but please don't make it your business to do so.

This post has been edited by BakaOrochi: 01 September 2010 - 11:48 PM

[Isamu]

BakaOrochi, on 01 September 2010 - 11:43 PM, said:

The harsh truth is the company doesn't have to care what "personal time" is, if you work for the company, that's their time, including any extra meetings that isn't on your normal scheduled shifts. They hired you on their terms, they can deny your "personal time" if they want to even if you have school (unless you're going to class for continuing education for the company's sake, which I'm guessing is not the case), granted it's a jerk move but they have the right to do that. They're actually doing you the favor in working around your personal schedule and keeping you on their payroll.

Now, they can't do anything that'll compromise your job if you honestly get sick or injured (and your injury should be covered by workman's comp and THAT you should've pressed to HR as a real issue; if the company won't cover it, then you can actually press that to HR or OSHA and get some results and you have an honest-to-goodness case).

It sucks, but truth you work for a prick as a manager and you will unfortunately have to suck it up. But you should not be using unrelated matters to try to stick it to the guy, it's very unprofessional and you can burn bridges that way.

By the way, is the emergency exit locked as in a padlock or is it just a deadbolt that can be unlocked if you push the knob/bar open (like, is it one of those doors where an alarm sounds if you open it)? If it can be unlocked easily and quickly, it's not an OSHA or fire code violation.

I don't want to throw a wet blanket but you again you're taking a real risk to your job and future jobs by doing this. Your job and boss will get what's coming to them, but please don't make it your business to do so.

There is no HR and the door is padlocked shut. They locked it because the inner frame is rotten and they don't want to pay to get it fixed.

[firegirl26]

thats not good. what if there was a fire and thats the only way out

[sentinel28a]

I'd start looking for a different job, Isamu--but I'd still report them to OSHA and the fire marshal. People might get killed because your boss is too lazy to do his job.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"He's not Mike Rowe, obviously"

[Isamu]

When I left this morning they had someone standing on a pallet lifted up to level four to get some paper with No safety harness. Also one of the drivers said during the meeting the big guy asked for anyone with a complaint to man up and stated that their job might be in jeopardy if they said anything.

[Saturn's Pheonix]

Thats what I like about my work we have a help line with corporate that is completely anonymous so if anyone tells them anything at all, they will look into it and no one will have their job in jeopardy except for the management that is failing to comply with the standards and procedures.

This post has been edited by Saturn's Pheonix: 03 September 2010 - 01:47 PM

[IRTHunter]

xD This topic reminds me of this sign company (that an individual I know runs With over 35 workers) something happened where an employee did something similar and somehow got OSHA involved. He simply did not feel like dealing with OSHA and somehow (following some regulations it was done legally) and shut the company down. He than reopened the company under a new abbreviation of some sort and hired 9 of the 35 workers he lied and brought new individuals in leaving the remaining workers searching for a new job(many were unable to apply for unemployment because of some wired way he shut the company down). Sad, but rather amusing in the since of what a small business can do.