Are You an ‘Essential’ Worker Not Feeling Protected in Your Workplace?

Although filing an online complaint is the best way to file a formal complaint at this time, another approach could be more practical. Workplace health and safety advocates can advise you about the best approach to take to resolve your particular workplace issue. We can also support you throughout the process.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Tom Joyce at the Midstate Council for Occupational Safety and Health, (607) 275-9560 or midstatecosh@gmail.com; or the Tompkins County Workers’ Center, (607) 269-0409 or TCWRH@tcworkerscenter.org. You can file an online complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) here. Please get advice about how to complete a complaint form.

The Washington Post’s recent FOIA request has reaffirmed the dangerous reality that some employees face in hospitals, grocery stores, airlines and other sectors across the nation. The 3,000 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) complaints filed paint a grim and frightening picture of what it means to be on the frontlines of the pandemic. As employers fail to follow social distancing guidelines or to provide adequate sanitation or hygiene equipment and materials, the effects of having no federally-mandated, legally-binding health standards are clear, leaving employees at risk. This is especially true in hospitals, where mask shortages and limited mask access leave nurses unprotected when treating patients with COV-ID 19.