Your Right to a Safe Workplace

OSHA
OSHA, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is the chief federal agency that issues and enforces workplace health and safety rules. However, in New Hampshire, OSHA does not protect state and local government employees. OSHA does protect you if you work for a business or non-profit organization.

	Filing an OSHA Complaint in New Hampshire To file a complaint in New Hampshire, contact OSHA at its Concord Area Office, JC Cleveland Federal Building, 53 Pleasant Street, Concord, New Hampshire 03301 or phone (603) 225-1629. For more information or to file a complain on line, click here.

Your Rights Under OSHA

• You have a legal right to a safe workplace. OSHA has issued extensive regulations on workplace hazards, available at the OSHA website. (LINK www.osha.gov )
• Your employer is required to provide training on safety and health hazards at your workplace.
• You have a right to get information from your employer about workplace safety conditions, such as results to tests done at the workplace.
• Your have the right to know about chemical hazards
• Your employer must provide information and proper labels are on all hazardous chemicals, as well as training about how to protect yourself.
• You have a right to file a complaint with OSHA if you think your workplace is unsafe and to request an OSHA inspection of your workplace.

OSHA and Union Workers
Union workers can choose to use either union procedures, OSHA, or both to fight for safe working conditions. To learn more, look here.

OSHA and Immigrant Workers
OSHA protects all workers, citizen and non-citizen, including undocumented immigrants. If you make a safety complaint, OSHA will not ask about your immigration status. OSHA office in New Hampshire can arrange for translation if they know in advance that it is needed to respond to communicate with a worker who has safety concerns.

OSHA’s national webpage has a Spanish-language section called “OSHA en español”, including a complaint form.

More about OSHA:

• Know Your Rights Under OSHA (pdf)
• When to Call OSHA
• The OSHA Inspection (pdf)

New Hampshire Department of Labor
The NH Department of Labor protects the health and safety of most workers in New Hampshire. Its workplace safety provisions are especially important to government employees, who in general are not covered by OSHA. Contact state safety inspectors at 603-271-3176 or check the Department’s website .

The NH Department of Labor also protects worker rights under workers’ compensation and NH laws on hours and wages.