Is Calling Osha Worth It,need Info

[Hellion]

There are alot of places I could name that are toxic to work in and me and several at work are dealing with grinding wheel dust(aluminum oxide/coolant) mist,me and another co-worker are seriously think about calling the OSHA Nazi's because of the smoke and mist,lack of ventilation,let alone, the owners are morons and wont do shit about it.the one thing that does concern me is we do not want to jeopardize anyones employment,also.As to what I have heard OSHA is very aggresive because they are no longer financed by the state.all I know is this has been a serious issue way before I started there.and still wondering why no one else never did anything earlier in the past.

[ttogreh]

Are you more concerned for the health and safety of you and your coworkers than you are for the security of your job? If the answer is yes, then call OSHA.

You only get one body... you can get another job.

[Destroit]

A job is definately not worth putting your health on the line, once your health starts to go it starts to go for good. Especially certain chemicals and substances, they can do some crazy stuff to a human body. If this is clearly a violation of the law you really should report it, a major reason businesses DO get away with this sort of thing for such a long time because everyone else is afraid to report it too usually.

[GOREgeouslyDecorated]

I'd call, but request that ur complaint be anonymous so that ur job is still secure ;-) good luck hun

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

OSHA is a Federal group, a division of the Department of Labor. It's never had state funding, ever.

You can't loose you job for calling OSHA, there are huge fines for the employer for doing that... so they may fire you for "other reasons.". That why you can call OSHA anonymously.

Call them. I doubt they will do anything but tell you there is no risks in what your doing.

[ttogreh]

There is also MiOSHA, by the way, a division of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic growth. Here's their website. I would suggest going to MiOSHA first, since OSHA could have backlogs...

[Fierce Critter]

It's easy to say "think about your health, not about your job" when it's not you that's looking at loss of income.

I've been there. My husband and I were living in Florida doing day labor, desperately working every hour we could in an attempt to make enough money to move back to Michigan. We worked double shifts, 7 days a week when available to get what we needed.

And then someone who had been fired for something called OSHA. They didn't have to be concerned about it because they already had a new job. As a result, the shop was closed for a WEEK. We had to spend half the money we'd earned to live there another week while waiting for the shop to reopen.

In instances like that, sometimes it's real hard to choose to be a crusader.

My advice? Buy your own respirator and at least wait until after the holidays. Put out an anonymous heads-up to people on the low end of the totem pole so they can be prepared to save some $$ if possible, and put a contingency plan in order.

Then, go for it.

Good luck.