Anyone familiar with OSHA?

[Bingbong]

Maybe a mis-quote?

I'm kinda curious what company OP works for, since this is my area. Not that I need pesticides or anything lol

Company is called Waltham Services. I order, stock, ship, distribute something like 300 different products. Also all the safety equipment, and regulatory stuff that goes with storing, using, and purchasing said stuff. We just got bought out by Rollins, the same folks that own Orkin.

[Bingbong]

double

[Serif]

Fuck OSHA, always making me wear hard hats on a construction job site. I build pools, THERE AINT SHIT ABOVE ME.

[Nephlite]

OSHA is more for unsanitary/unsafe working conditions in the workplace that pose safety and health risks for the workers as a whole. My union ended up lodging an OSHA complaint because we had a very serious pest problem (bee's) in the male locker room. They called a pest control service originally to come out and they laid some sticky traps. Eventually, 3 officers ended up getting stung and one had a severe allergic reaction (this was over a 3 month span where we complained to the administration many times about the bee's). OSHA ended up posting a warning that they were going to come out and inspect the area. They came out after about 2 weeks when the complaint went unanswered by the administration. They inspected the nests and even inspected the amount of trash and did tests for mold and whatnot. Come to find out we had a class 1 mold problem in the shower room and the break room wasn't cleaned to their standards.

Needless to say the bee's were cleaned out, the mold was stripped out and the whole locker room was serviced and we now have 24 hour housekeeping services. Things like that you can lodge an OSHA complaint. You got tasked with one job, one time and the problems presented before you can be easily rectified by grabbing a second person to help you and hold a flashlight etc. Unless this is something you do off the regular basis and is clearly not part of your job description, then I don't think you got a very strong case against them. Also it's not uncommon to see people get blackballed from their jobs for lodging these complaints and inevitably getting fired by their employers for being whistleblowers. Think about that as well, especially if the problem isn't that serious.

[Airenn]

Company is called Waltham Services. I order, stock, ship, distribute something like 300 different products. Also all the safety equipment, and regulatory stuff that goes with storing, using, and purchasing said stuff. We just got bought out by Rollins, the same folks that own Orkin.

Chemical distribution vs. this description are two completely different jobs in my mind. Granted still not changing light bulbs in an attic, but yea.

EDIT: TO clarify, from the original post, I was thinking he worked with the actual chemicals himself in a sciency-type way.

[Melena]

Okay, I'm sorry, which part of my statement is untrue?

The hospitals and medium to high risk part. I mean if a retail store falls under it, you either exaggerated there bounds or were just completely incorrect. I've worked everything from retail to fast food to IT and every job I had dealt with OSHA compliance.

[Cyn]

There's no way I'd risk pissing an employer off in today's job market because I didn't want to man up and grab a lantern and a 4' step stool and put some damn light bulbs in. Besides, the more people whine to OSHA about silly shit like that, the more stupid rules they make up that slow down or annoy the people trying to actually get shit done without needing a bunch of safety gear to do simple tasks.

[Melena]

Well one thing to whine about stupid shit. Another for asking to make a job safer when going up several feet on a ladder, in the dark, with an unstable floor. Myself I would have just grabbed two people, made one hold the ladder, and the other to hold the flash light. But that's just me.

[Airenn]

I'm sure you can get fired from saying no, this is too dangerous for me.

[Cyn]

There are lots of things you can get fired for.

[Silviya]

There are so many OSHA rules that if you call them into your work place they will find something. Fines are typically huge (talking multi-thousands of dollars) to deter companies from not following the rules. However, unless your company has had issues with OSHA in the past they typically give you a grace period to fix the problems before they fine you. This of course means that you have to fix the problems and then go through another inspection (in which they can find additional things to fix). All in all having OSHA pay a visit to your company will probably cost your company lots of money/time. Now if they found out you were the one that called OSHA in they probably won't be to pleased with you, fire you, etc.

I know we had a random inspection at the place I work. My boss was flipping shit. He made our whole crew follow the inspector around and try to fix anything he pointed out right away, so that the inspector wouldn't have to come back. The inspector found a bunch of little things like lights or too much dust (I was like seriously dust?), but the thing I remember the most was that that he noticed that someone had leaned two pallets against a wall instead of laying them flat on the floor. Apparently, this constituted a $10,000 fine per pallet. Luckily, the guy wasn't a total dick so he let us just move the pallets and avoid 20k in fines.

But yea, if you call OSHA in you better be ready to leave your job cause your boss(es) are not going to be to happy with you.

[Melena]

True, an employer can find a reason to fire you, but OSHA lets you submit anonymous claims and if you can prove you got fired for that reason, that company is going to be in a hell of a lot more shit. My advice though, if it's big huge guaranteed to get you or a coworker injured and they refuse to fix it, call osha or your union. If it's something dumb like a pallet against the wall, let it go. I think the only time I got the urge to call was when fry's was blocking fire exits and had the doors locked after hours. Someone beat me to it though and Fry's got into a ton of shit over it.

[Zeb]

Wow. OSHA regulates everything that deals with safety and health in your working environment. Everything. From chemical storage, to not being able to use extension cords permanently, to the amount of bathrooms per worker.

I'm not like super educated in OSHA, but I've had a 40 hour OSHA class and have a little certificate, I also have their regulation book laying around somewhere. I was on the safety team for a company that employs 1000+ people. First off, like others have said, you're a pussy for not manning up. Do it, but just be smart about it. I can't quite know exactly what the flooring looks like in your attic area, but I'd say you can probably get some planks that go across the paneling from sturdy area to sturdy area and you can you a 6 foot ladder on that, giving you plenty of work room. Also, being as it's dark, you'd want to bring portable lighting with you. Should have told your boss, "Yeah, I'll do it, but can I have the proper shit to do the job?" The only way the boss would be at fault is if he forced you to do it unsafely. If you didn't ask for the proper equipment, he's gonna be off the hook.