A fundamental right afforded by the Occupational Safety and Health Act is the right to report safety concerns without fear of reprisal or retribution of any kind. OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program was established to investigate alleged violations of this right.

“Safety officer stopped a job after observing unsafe condition, but line supervisor ordered the job to continue citing high priority, and the project manager agreed with line supervisor's decision. There was one lost-time injury during the job. The management already formed its opinion about the safety officer because the job belongs to one of their favorite customers, but later called for full investigation. Whose job should be saved?

As a famous cliché reads: the devil is in the details. I often get asked about the details of a viable safety accountability culture. An example of visible executive involvement is personal commitment to safety accountability (S/A), to be involved in a review and discussion of appropriate actions for all significant incidents and near misses.

Since the release of my latest book,” Would You Watch Out For My Safety?™ “ in March of 2011, I have had the privilege of sharing its message with thousands of people. During that time, I have discovered a few things I thought I would share with you today.

"Everything you are going to do is going to affect others for the rest of your life. So if you get injured, it's an impact that's going to affect everybody," says Gary Norland, a former lineman and electrical accident survivor.