u/Slothmaster6969

Idk if what I’m asking makes sense but I’ll do my best to explain my thinking. I work in a shop that keeps its loading dock doors open in the summer. The drop off is 3 feet 8 inches. Safety regulations require a temporary barrier (like a chain) to be present for drop offs of 4 feet or higher. Obviously being 4 inches below the minimum height doesn’t make it incredibly safer. How can I calculate the impact force from both heights? I’m just doing my best to advocate for a safer work environment for my coworkers and want the facts on my side

I’m not really sure how to ask this but I’m going to try my best to explain my thinking. So my employer keeps the loading dock doors open but doesn’t put up a barrier of any sorts while they are open. The drop off is 3 foot 8 inches. I know osha requires a barrier for drop offs are 4 foot and above. Technically they don’t need to put up a barrier, but it’s only a 4 inch difference and I believe is still a safety hazard. I’m wondering is there a way to calculate the impact force for both measurements?? Just want to be able to push the employer to put up a barrier whether it’s required or not

My employer has light fixtures hanging on conduits in my shop. I’m assuming they aren’t supposed to hold external weight?

Title pretty much says it, my employer has light fixtures hanging on sprinkler system piping. I know it must be an osha violation or nfpa violation. I’m having trouble finding the exact standard. Can anyone help me out?

Are you protected under the whistleblower act from retaliation for simply speaking to osha or do you need to file a formal safety complaint to have that protection

Okay so I was at a conference where I took and completed an osha 10 class. I come back to the shop excited to put this knowledge to use and start writing down concerns and talking to coworkers about their concerns. I go to VP to let them know, tells me to bring it up at the meeting. I bring up my 20+ list of concerns, possible violations and suggestions. I said that I think our joint safety committee is missing things. President says “we’re all entitled to our opinions”… I lost my cool because how are you going to give a snide remark to safety concerns. We really go at each other( isn’t the first time, we have a terrible relationship) and it just ends up being a petty back and forth. VP still wants to push the safety concerns forward, so we decided that I will compile the safety concerns into a document to give to the company. So I start my research, I remember in the osha class that you can talk with a compliance officer for clarity on regulations but don’t have to file a complaint. I tell my VP that I plan on doing. They tell the president and all of a sudden the VP starts trying to deter me from meeting with osha. In fact, president and VP go up to HR and tells the company that I am going to approach osha. Like okay well you just put a fucking huge target on my back. I told the vp that I was only going to consult with the compliance officer so that I can have all the evidence and facts backing up any claims of violations. I feel like this was a huge breach of trust and honestly a big betrayal. I met with the osha officer and basically said all my concerns are valid, most of them were serious and gave me the appropriate regulation codes for the different safety hazards. Didn’t disclose the company name or the town that it’s located in. Hell I didn’t even disclose my own name. In my opinion if you have questions or unsure of regulations, you go right to the source and get educated on it. The compliance officer was like an osha regulation super computer, it was a very casual interaction and lasted less than 30 minutes. I left the office educated and confident in confronting the company on safety issues. Am I crazy thinking that union leadership telling the company that I’m talking to osha is a huge confidentiality breach?? I feel like I was helping solidify our case and they took it as going around them. Idk let me know what y’all think