How to Report Major Safety Violations at Your Job

If you work around machinery and do a lot of physical labor, you might have had a chance to be concerned for your safety. Thankfully, there are plenty of safety codes businesses are liable to keep you aware of and protect you from. If you think you see a violation, it is important for your safety that you take the time to report it.

Understand What Constitutes a Violation

You can’t go around reporting violations that don’t exist. You must have a solid idea as to what makes a safety violation. This may take you through a lot of boring legalese, but if you think you might be treated unfairly, this time spent studying the law is well worth it.

First, you should keep your eye out for potential safety hazards. These could be related to machinery, falling, or biological hazards. If something could pose a significant threat, it should be labeled a potential danger with signs and notices. Think about what would happen in a worst-case scenario.

File a Complaint

Sometimes, your boss won’t make the change even with your pleading. Now that you know that you are dealing with a violation by your employer, and they won’t change it, it is time to file a complaint. It may make your work life awkward, but it’s better than getting hurt or killed by negligence.

All employees have a right to file a confidential complaint with OSHA. You can let the local and state governments deal with the unreasonable owner immediately. The business will be forced to comply with the law and will likely be forced to pay significantly for the neglect.

Report Directly After the Violation

File these complaints as soon as possible. If you don’t your claim will look more suspect and favor the business owner. While they might be doing something wrong, your late report might make it seem as though you just want money.

Additionally, your report will be more useful if you remember as many details as possible. Over time, details of the violation may become scattered and less consistent. It can be harder to recall what your manager said to you, making claims that will go through simple rebuttals. For this reason, it is simply better to address safety concerns early and quickly.

Once you have sent in your report, you will likely see some changes. You might see a change in leadership. You may get some compensation. At the very least, your job will become easier and safer.

Read this next: Careers That Can Put Your Skills to Good Use

Careers That Can Put Your Skills to Good Use

As someone with a criminal record, you know that finding a good job can be tough. You know that that’s not the only thing worth knowing about you, but you also know that other people often aren’t willing to look past it. That can be incredibly discouraging, but some careers allow you to put your skills to good use regardless of your history.

Ethical Hacking

Given the extent to which technology has invaded everyday life, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are people who take advantage of the weaknesses in various systems and exploit them for gain. If you were once one of them and got in trouble for hacking, you could potentially put those skills to good use in a legal and lucrative way. Ethical hacking is a career that focuses on identifying the weaknesses in websites. As someone experienced in that area, you are uniquely positioned to offer this valuable service to businesses that could otherwise suffer catastrophic data breaches. Entry-level ethical hackers can earn anywhere from $50,000-$100,000 per year.

Skip Tracing

Criminals, by nature, don’t want to be found. Getting caught means getting punished. They aren’t the only ones who don’t want to be found though. Sometimes people who fail to make payments on loans also don’t want to be found. That can put lenders in a tough spot, at which point they may hire a skip tracer to find the debtor to recover the property. Skip tracing significantly increases the chances of a lender’s property being recovered. Who better to find people who don’t want to be found than someone who already knows where to look?

Entrepreneurship

Given the difficulty of finding a job with a criminal record, working for yourself can sometimes be the best option. If the nature of your offense involved your own crime business, you may have learned some incredibly valuable lessons that can carry over into a more legal business setting. You’ve likely already had some experience with the risk assessment process and dealing with the fallout of poor decisions. As such, you may be less risk-averse in addition to being practiced at turning a profit. Both of these are essential elements of operating a successful business.

As someone with a criminal record, there’s a good chance you have some skills that could be of great benefit in a career if you were to find the right one. Ethical hacking, skip tracing, and becoming an entrepreneur are just a few examples of such careers. Take a personal inventory of what you have to offer and find a career that will allow you to use your skills for good.

Ready to get started with a new career? Check out our career opportunities!