Loren Sweatt
Our nation is celebrating Labor Day with an even greater appreciation for the hardworking men and women of America. Our essential workers, in particular, have kept our nation up and running during unprecedented times.
For the last six months, our front-line health care providers have worked tirelessly to save patients from the coronavirus. Grocery store workers, meatpackers and package delivery drivers could not telework. They answered our national call and went to work wearing face coverings and gloves to provide food security and needed supplies for their neighbors.
As the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), I am reminded each day of the hard work and dedication exhibited by workers across this great country.
At OSHA, we have been working around the clock since January to support the new difficulties presented by COVID-19. Following President Donald Trump’s memorandum directing the Department of Labor to “consider all appropriate and necessary steps to increase the availability of respirators,” OSHA moved quickly, issuing five different enforcement guidance documents that sought to preserve the respirator supply for health care workers while also ensuring their protection.
As critical infrastructure and essential industry employers modified traditional work practices to protect their workers, OSHA developed a guide to help them identify and tackle new risks in their workplaces. Doing so was part of OSHA’s efforts to publish a number of industry-specific guidance documents tailored to a variety of industries. Whether you work in a warehouse, a grocery store or a food truck, OSHA has resources available to help you stay safe while you work. We are also pleased that federal courts have recognized the work OSHA has done and the authority OSHA has utilized to keep workers safe and healthy.
As a historic number of workplace complaints came in, OSHA’s inspectors stepped up to the challenge, investigating more than 9,600 safety and health complaints and over 2,700 whistleblower complaints through the end of August. In validating and investigating these complaints, OSHA has worked to remove more than a half million workers from hazards.
OSHA is also dedicated to protecting whistleblowers who raise concerns about workplace safety issues, and the agency worked to reinstate workers who have been retaliated against for expressing safety and health concerns in the workplace. OSHA’s whistleblower investigations have led to real changes to workplace policies — changes that ensure workers can raise concerns about safety and health on the job without fear of adverse action. Highlighting the importance of such protections, Secretary Eugene Scalia stood up for those whistleblowers from the White House podium in early April to deliver a clear message: “We will not tolerate retaliation.”
Now, as our nation continues to return to work, OSHA continues to protect our nation’s workforce. In addition to continuing our enforcement activities — both those related and unrelated to the coronavirus — we are continuing to work with our partners at the federal, state and local levels to educate and inform America’s workplaces on the best ways to stay safe.
But as our work continues, we ask for your help. If you believe a serious hazard is at your workplace, or if you believe you were the victim of retaliation at work after speaking up about unsafe working conditions, you can submit an anonymous complaint following instructions provided at www.osha.gov or by calling 800-321-6742. Your information will be kept confidential.
In 1894, Congress passed legislation creating Labor Day to recognize the contributions of America’s workers. Today, we honor their work as it changes to meet new challenges, new technologies and new ways of maintaining the stability and well-being of our country. Meeting these new challenges by keeping workers safe and healthy is the best way to celebrate the dedication and achievements of America’s workers.
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Sweatt is principal deputy assistant secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
