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CWA Strategic Research Manual
Health and Safety
For health and safety, as for any working conditions issues, the first source of information is the workers themselves.
In addition to receiving individual complaints, you can involve union supporters in conducting a simple survey of health and safety problems such as noise, heat or cold, back strains, headaches, repetitive motion, or occupational stress health problems.
A survey will yield information and also will stir up interest and get people talking to each other. People who have health and safety concerns may be drawn into the campaign for the first time. Everyone will appreciate the fact that the union committee asked their opinion -- probably management never does.
Workers have the legal right to a great deal of information from employers' files on health and safety. By helping unorganized workers use these rights, you can both develop campaign issues and show workers how union representation can benefit them.
Under OSHA regulations, even unorganized workers have the right to look at and copy exposure or medical records the employer keeps, such as:
- Results of tests showing levels of noise, vibration, dust, chemicals, radiation, heat or cold, or that show the amount of a chemical that has been absorbed into the body.
- Studies by or for the employer in which these records are analyzed.
- Copies of medical records if a company doctor did the exams.
- Names of chemicals or other harmful ma-terials. This includes "Material Safety Data Sheets" (MSDS) or other similar forms provided to the employer by the manufacturer of a chemical.
An MSDS is supposed to tell what hazardous ingredients are in the chemical, how it can be handled safely, and what health damage it can cause.
Although it is useful in figuring out what is in a chemical, never trust the MSDS to be complete. It may not list ingredients that the manufacturer doesn't consider dangerous or that are classified as "trade secrets."
It also may not mention long-term health damage such as cancer.
If the MSDS does not answer all of your questions, or if the employer didn't get one from the supplier, you may want to contact the chemical manufacturer yourself. The manufacturer is not required to give you information but may do so.
The OSHA rule does not require the employer to obtain Material Safety Data Sheets, to take air measurements, or to make medical tests. But it does require employers who have MSDSs or who do these tests to keep those records and make them available to workers on request.
Any worker who wants to see his or her exposure or medical records or MSDSs must be given access within 15 days. Requests should be made directly to the employer in writing.
Records must either be copied for free or loaned to the worker to make copies outside the workplace.
Since exposure of many workers to health hazards is often measured by sampling only a few workers' exposure, an employee has the right to look at and copy exposure records of other employees which would indicate his or her own exposure.
When a worker is first hired, and at least once a year after that, each employee must be told what health and safety records the employer has and where they are kept, and must be told of the right to review or copy them. The employer must also provide a copy of OSHA's access-to-information rules to any worker who asks for one.
Some states have "right to know" laws which are stronger than OSHA's so check with the CWA district or headquarters staff.
| Log 200 -- Injuries and Illnesses |
Under another OSHA regulation, workers have the right to see and copy the form employers must keep listing who has been injured or made ill on the job and what the injury or illness is. This form is referred to as Log 200.
The OSHA standard which requires that a log of all job-related injuries and illnesses be kept is 29 CFR 1904.7 [www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9638]. It applies to workplaces with eleven or more employees. The regulation requires management to keep a log of injuries or illnesses that result in:
- Death.
- Lost workdays.
- Transfer to another job, medical treatment, loss of consciousness, or restriction of work.
Management must make this log and an annual summary available upon request to any past or present workers for examination and copying. The summary must be posted (without names) no later than February 1 of each year and kept posted for one month.
These records can help you document unsafe management practices. Since the records usually do not include all the accidents and work-related illnesses which should have been recorded, you may be able to make an issue of a "management cover-up."
OSHA and health and safety agencies in the states have records of inspections they have made, including hazards found, fines proposed and paid, and steps taken to correct hazards.
Any citizen has the right to see and get copies of these reports from OSHA or the state inspection agency.
Although OSHA inspectors often miss many hazards, you may be able to use the reports to document some health and safety problems raised by workers.
In addition, check with workers to see whether management is complying with past OSHA orders. (OSHA often doesn't check on this.) If not, you have a ready-made campaign issue.
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How to Ask the Government for Information on EmployersBack to
Violations of the Law
