I'm loading trucks for a company I won't name here. On several occasions the drivers have pulled the trucks while I was working. My main fear is that they will pull the truck while I am hanging a load retainer. I have injured my knee when a driver pulled the truck and I fell in the gap between the truck and the bay door. Every loader in the building can recount a time when they have experienced this.

I decided to report it to OSHA and they did an investigation but no action was taken though corporate did indeed take action and they have put into place new regulations. I have not had this problem since but they are mainly putting supervisors in harms way instead. (Which I have no problem with!)

However, when I read the letter OSHA sent me I feel as though corporate only did something about it because they knew the problem existed but they were able to conceal it from OSHA. I feel like OSHA did a poor job investigating the safety hazard. If something were to happen involving this in the future I feel as though OSHA should be at least partly held accountable.

If something were to happen could I sue OSHA? Or what would be a better option?

If you are no longer the one in danger, you'll have a hard time with anything like a lawsuit. You don't have standing for someone else who gets injured. But more broadly:

Someone with legal standing would probably be better off suing the company than OSHA. The company has a pretty strict requirement to adhere to OSHA guidelines, or at least to provide reasonable accomodations to minimize hazards to employees. OSHA's specific liability when an employer doesn't do so (whether by deception, ignorance, what have you) is murky at best.

You've already reported it to OSHA, and if the issue isn't resolved (which sounds like the case) then there's no reason that you couldn't follow up your complaint with them again. You could also talk to someone at your company about your concerns, whether that's a supervisor or manager or other higher-up, though it doesn't sound like you'd be too confident that that would do much.

If your workplace is unionized, then the employer's refusal to make a basic safety accomodations would be an issue that they could take up on all of your behalf. If your workplace is not unionized, you could organize (or have organizers come in, which would probably be more effective). This is exactly the sort of situation that unions are supposed to address.

You could also dangle the situation in front of a journalist, who sometimes take on this sort of story. But they'll only be interested if it's a sexy enough issue to sell, not out of any general concern for you and your fellow employees.

You should get your co-workers together and write a group complaint to OSHA, assuming you saw this happen after your orginal complaint. Just document everything you can to leave the fault completely off you.

My dad works in electrical and he's been reviewing elec. safety stuff to be OSHA compliant and hes been trying to tell his company that if they don't start following the rules, they could be shut down or if someone gets injured they will lose it all, but last I heard they weren't listening to him.

If you're using a shipping company for your trucks you can also report the individual drivers to their company.

When I worked at a warehouse, the trucks weren't even allowed to be turned on while they were being loaded. It might be different at larger warehouses that move more product though.

If you're using a shipping company for your trucks you can also report the individual drivers to their company.

When I worked at a warehouse, the trucks weren't even allowed to be turned on while they were being loaded. It might be different at larger warehouses that move more product though.

They created a new rule where you're not suppose to be on the back of the truck if a driver has backed under it. You are now suppose to get a supervisor to hang the strap and seal the truck if the driver is under it. This partly fixes the problem but if they backed under the truck while you were not in it you may not even know they were under the truck. Or the supervisor could be pulled out the door but that would be funny to me and the company would probably just terminate their position if they got hurt since they don't have a union. Plus most of the supervisors are sheep so I'm doubtful they would file a complaint if that were to happen.

I decided to report it to OSHA and they did an investigation but no action was taken though corporate did indeed take action and they have put into place new regulations. I have not had this problem since but they are mainly putting supervisors in harms way instead. (Which I have no problem with!)

Why not? Are supervisors somehow less deserving of safety protection?

From what you've said, it sounds your the problem actually WAS resolved after your complaint; your company introduced new policies that have removed the danger from your job. If there are other or new problems that are putting people in danger and which concern you then you should submit another complaint, or if you're not satisfied with the solution to your original problem then you should follow up so that additional action can be taken.

I'm not sure what the official OSHA policy is on truck restraints, but I would just write another complaint (or have someone else do it).

It's not uncommon for people to be killed from poor truck restraining policies. All of our warehouses have dock locks and it's instant termination if you go into a trailer that's not green-lighted.

Knowing OSHA there's probably a strict regulation for it, you may call them and ask what their policy is. If your company is in line with OSHA, there's not really anything you can do.

If your company is in line with OSHA, there's not really anything you can do.

Sure there is, if you actually get injured.


There's the immediate case of workers compensation. Being injured by a known hazard at the workplace gives you a strong case for any workers comp claim.

If you report a hazard, and it is documented that you reported the hazard, and then you got injured from that hazard, that is likely a very strong civil court case. The case would be against the company itself, not against OSHA. They know about a risk and chose not to address it, deeming it safe. It turns out it wasn't and somebody was injured. Even if it was within OSHA specs, the fact that it was reported as a hazard prior to the injury is important in determining liability.


Again, if there is a legitimate safety concern in your workplace then you need to let managers and supervisors know about it. If they try to fix it with new policies and the problem persists, they need to know that it still exists.

[quote name='ChurchSkiz' timestamp='1306845020' post='4817857']
If your company is in line with OSHA, there's not really anything you can do.

Sure there is, if you actually get injured.


There's the immediate case of workers compensation. Being injured by a known hazard at the workplace gives you a strong case for any workers comp claim.

If you report a hazard, and it is documented that you reported the hazard, and then you got injured from that hazard, that is likely a very strong civil court case. The case would be against the company itself, not against OSHA. They know about a risk and chose not to address it, deeming it safe. It turns out it wasn't and somebody was injured. Even if it was within OSHA specs, the fact that it was reported as a hazard prior to the injury is important in determining liability.


Again, if there is a legitimate safety concern in your workplace then you need to let managers and supervisors know about it. If they try to fix it with new policies and the problem persists, they need to know that it still exists.
[/quote]

You'd have a hell of a time proving negligence after an OSHA visit confirmed they were in compliance with safety standards. They had an OSHA visit, complied to the rules, and adopted new policies. Unless they purposely hid stuff from OSHA or were not in compliance to their own policy, you're fighting a losing battle. If workers could sue companies where OSHA deemed the process was adequate, no company would perform labor in the US.

Workers comp is a given.