Check out the new sticker 😄

Got fired yesterday, 2 days after making my OSHA complaint. Of course they blamed in on a separate issue, but I know they know it was me because of how vocal I have been and the refusal of preforming unsafe work. I figured they’d pull some shit like this because of how grimy they operate.

Look I know some of you are gonna call me a snitch or whatever I don’t even care. I’m not a big stiffler on these sorts of things but I do a pretty dangerous job. Working around power lines everyday with damaged and uninspected booms, hydraulic leaks on every fitting and hose you can think of, I almost got hit by a 18 wheeler around a dangerous curve(facing traffic with no traffic control mind you) These bucket booms reach 70ft in the air, our safety harnesses are not inspected or replaced. Most of them have physical damage and I shit you not one harness I used to be forced to wear was tied to the boom with 2 small tow straps.

OSHA did reach back out to me this morning we both filed a whistleblower complaint but I fear my job is now cooked based on how much of a help they’ve actually been. They contacted my employer via phone without my knowledge or without doing proper site inspections. They didn’t ask me for any evidence or anything which I have tons of. I reached out to some lawyers near me some turned my case down and haven’t heard back from the rest. I fear I am cooked guys.

My last day, I was required to cut down 16 trees total, my last job I was set up for failure but preformed the work flawlessly without any damage. When we informed the boss we were done he instructed me to come in early and that’s when they told me I was being let go. Yeah they knew it was me.

I knew the consequences and weighed my options carefully but I thought about it and said even if I did lose my job, the cost of my job for possibly saving someone’s life one day whether I knew I did or not would make it worth it. Hopefully everything works out but we shall see.

Co-worker and I are debating whether or not this harness would pass inspection.

It was a long, hard road, but I am so happy this is behind me. I truly do feel like the CSP will be a breeze.

Hi guys, I just graduated college and have been working in safety for a few months now. I absolutely hate it and I feel lost and discouraged about my future. Does it get any better or should I just switch my career path while I’m young.

Came across a mobile work platform today that had a positioning lanyard with a rebar hook connected to a standard anchor point on the platform. It's this ok? I've seen mixed info via Google and nothing specific from any regulatory source.

21+ years as a Safety Consultant, Safety Professional, and Safety Trainer... And I feel that my client has a case to contest a violation... Am I wrong?

I have a client that just received a citation regarding their sharps disposal container. At the time of the OSHA inspection, the client was using a red 200oz Tide Laundry Detergent bottle as a sharps disposal container. Bottle was red in color (like a typical tide bottle) and had the cap secured on it. It did not have the word "sharps" on the container, nor the biohazard emblem.

Now... I know, best practice is to use a proper sharps container. However, the violation states that this employer did not use an "approved sharps container" (verbatim from the violation paperwork) The violation does describe the tide bottle they were using instead.

While we are in a state with a state plan... Our state plan is so basic that it actually just includes one rule that says they adopt the federal standards. We have no specific state standards regarding bloodborne pathogens that are different from Federal Requirements.... So, when looking at the actual regulations... (1910.1030) a sharps disposal container must meet these requirements:

• Closable
• Puncture resistant
• Leakproof on sides and bottom; and
• Labeled or color-coded in accordance with paragraph (g)(1)(i) of this standard.

Key word there being "OR"... so 1910.1030(g)(1)(i) says:

• Warning labels shall be affixed to containers of regulated waste, refrigerators and freezers containing blood or other potentially infectious material; and other containers used to store, transport or ship blood or other potentially infectious materials, except as provided in paragraph (g)(1)(i)(E), (F) and (G).

So looking at (E) as referenced above)....

• Red bags or red containers may be substituted for labels.

Therefore... while certainly not ideal and not a best practice, wouldn't the red tide bottle meet all of those requirements? And the violation is technically incorrect by saying an "Approved Sharps Container" as that language does not appear anywhere in the regulations? I've also looked through letters of interpretation and found nothing that supports OSHA's statement in the violation.

Am I wrong? I'm not trying to poopoo legitimate sharps containers, and my client has since begun using "official" sharps containers. What I'm looking for opinions on, is if contesting this violation has a legs to stand on that I feel it does, saving my client over $10,000 in penalties for this one violation. Thanks all!

EDIT: As many have asked for some additional background here... First, here's a screenshot of this particular violation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mZYfoWQNfmkHoft2QVy6-vw1RwzPJbtG/view?usp=sharing

Second, this is a school. The school is divided between highschool/middle school and an elementary school. Each of these divisions has their own school nursing room. This citation comes from the elementary school nurse's room. There is only one nurse for the elementary school, the same nurse each day. The nurse room is a locked room due to things like medication storage and for HIPAA compliance. The Tide bottle was brought in by that very nurse and that nurse is the only person with access to it or who uses it, so it's not out in the open and it's stored in a locked cabinet so that not even students could get to it. If anyone needs additional info, let me know, but also understand that I need to protect the integrity of my confidentiality with the client.

It's the first time I've seen something like this. What are the communities thoughts on making it better?

I work for a pretty well known company. I thought I was walking into a job with established safety programs, I was wrong. Over this past year I feel like this job has chipped away at my soul. Between co-workers attempting to bully me, being called names to my face, hourly people begging me to help them, and basically being the most reviled person here, I have been breaking down. I discovered a very real very serious safety and ethical issue. Everyone told me to walk away, but I brought it to my boss and when he wouldnt listen I took it higher. I knew it wasnt going to be easy but now I am literally a pariah. I didn't know that doing the right thing would feel so wrong. And those people who were blatantly violating our companies ethical standards? Yeah nothing has changed.

I have to face this every day and I don't know how to keep doing it. I've been in the field for 3 years now and this is my second safety role. Any advice from folks who have been doing this for a while would really be appreciated. I like helping people and want to keep doing safety, but I am not sure its for me.

I’m so bummed, I really loved my job and the culture was changing there. People kept telling me how great a job I was doing and how they could see all the positive changes and support.

I was told they couldn’t afford my position anymore because they were making less profit. But in reality, they’ll lose more money before they will have more claims. And that makes me sad for everyone who works there.

I don’t know, I just needed someplace to vent. I know I’ll find something better but it just feels like I lost a huge part of what I loved.

Long shifts. High-risk environments. Never-ending demand.

Fatigue is quietly becoming one of the biggest threats in mining, oil & gas, and construction — and no one’s addressing it. Crews are being stretched thin, working 12+ hour days, often in extreme conditions. Mistakes are rising. So are injuries.

This isn’t just burnout. It’s a safety crisis.

How long until companies stop treating exhaustion as a badge of honor and start seeing it for what it is — a liability?

Anyone else seeing this on the ground?

I had an employee trip earlier this afternoon and twist their ankle. They initially said it was just a little sore, but they insisted they were fine and continued to work.

5 hours later I get an email from the shift supervisor that the employee reported the pain had worsened and asked to leave early to which the supervisor allowed. The employee also asked to take a vacation day the following day.

Does this become recordable because technically the employee is losing time due to injury even though she has not sought medical attention? Any advice on how to manage this case going forward?

Salary is something that seems to be brought up here quite often which is a good thing in terms of transparency. However, when I look through these threads I see crazy numbers $150k, 250k+. Maybe I’m severely underpaid. I’m a safety coordinator (but the only safety personnel on site) for a moderate sized manufacturing/processing facility. 4 years experience bachelors in safety making $58k salary. I live in a pretty LCOL area in the Midwest. Not a big city not a tiny town. I’m looking for a change because I’m certainly not getting rich at my current role and there isn’t much room for salary bump. I hope to one day make those big bucks you all talk about but I just don’t see how it’s possible without moving to a big city which I just won’t do. And even if I did, the cost of living is much higher so of course a higher salary is necessary. I’d be happy topping out at $100k with good work/life balance and riding it to retirement in 30 years.

This turned into more of a rant than I planned but is anyone else feel these salaries people mention here are insane or am I the black sheep on this one?

Hey everyone,

I just got an offer for a Workplace Health & Safety Specialist role at Amazon: $56,000 base salary with a $10,000 sign-on bonus. I recently graduated with my Master of Public Health (MPH) and have an OSHA 30 certification.

Just curious—does this sound typical for someone starting out in this field at Amazon? Anyone else in a similar role willing to share what their offer or experience was like?

Appreciate any insight!

Hey everyone,

We know that the right PPE and workwear can mean the difference between a close call and a serious injury—but have you ever witnessed this firsthand?

Have you seen a hard hat take the hit instead of a worker’s head? A high-visibility vest prevent a near-miss? Or maybe cut-resistant gloves stop a bad hand injury?

Even if you haven’t experienced it directly, have you heard of any incidents where PPE or the right workwear saved someone on the job?

Let’s hear some real-world examples of safety gear doing its job!

What has everyone's salary progression looked like?

Mine has been:

Job 1/0 Years Experience - Environmental Scientist $45,000 + bonus

Job 2/.5 Years Experience - Environmental Scientist $25/hr($52,000 + overtime)

Job 3/2 Years Experience - EHS Specialist $75,000 + bonus

Job 4/3 Years Experience - EHS Specialist $90,000 + bonus

Current: Still Job 4 now at $93,500 + bonus.

Education - B.S Environmental Science but I did not finish that until halfway through job 3.

Company/manager wants us to use this bucket on this forklift and has it "secured" like that And yes the do go up in it like this. Personally I'd wouldn't even consider any of this

Hello everyone! I graduated college last December and I work at a manufacturing company. I currently report to the HR director. I feel like this is counterproductive as we have opposite priorities for what we do. So who do you report to?

I work in safety, and lately I’ve been indirectly told to do things like: •Record safety meetings that I know never actually happened •Leave out near misses that could’ve turned into serious injuries •Generally make our stats look cleaner for bids and client meetings

I’m uncomfortable with it, but I also don’t want to blow up my career. Has anyone dealt with this? How did you handle it, and what options do I realistically have?

Hi everyone. Wanted to share my salary to provide guidance to others. I work in the Bay area, California, in a medical tech device company. Worked there for a little over 7 years. This was my first job and worked my way up to an EHS Specialist level 3. I am ASP/CSP certified. BS in Occupational Health & Safety. My total compensation was $148k.

I recently was offered an EHS Sr. Manager position for another tech company with a total compensation of $176k.

I am excited about this next chapter in my career. What are your thoughts? Please share your experiences.

I'm an EHS Specialist at a local small pharma, I'm in charge of managing the safety of a local group of 15+ people that do Preventative Maintenance in the plant.

I have too much free time and can't help feeling guilty.

My responsibilities include managing PPE, giving safety trainings and doing safety rounds where I correct anyone that I see without proper protection/ mitigation for their tasks...

Thing is I get these things done too quickly and I feel like I'm cheating my company out of their money.

Do you often find yourself with much free time if at all?

Dont ever let anyone tell you there's no money in safety. Thats why I work safe lol. To keep making good money. Stick to it, GROW your network, stay sharp & up to date and after a solid 15 years (or sooner) if you're lucky you could crest the $250,000 range easily. My last 5 years have all exceeded 225k and the best was nearly 300k. One job was salary, one was contractual, one was hourly.

These were/are the companies:

Kiewit-SR Safety Manager (assigned as director of multibillion $ megaproject)

Exyte Group-Senior Safety Owner Rep for Intel Semiconductor

Data Center campus for top 10 GC (Advisor and Consultant role)

Top Tier Data Center campus: current role, 1 year contract at $100 an hour, full safety oversight of project.