In early September, just before President Biden ordered 80 million workers to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing, a question went viral on the internet.
“Would y’all report your unvaccinated co-worker(s) for $200K?” asked @RevampedCP on Twitter.
Given how small and chronically understaffed [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA] is, the idea of snitching on someone in your office is actually not that far from reality.
Employee complaints are an important part of enforcement given how few inspectors the government has, says Rich Fairfax, a safety consultant with the National Safety Council who spent 36 years at OSHA, including as head of enforcement.
According to OSHA, there are about 1,850 federal and state inspectors covering some 8 million worksites nationwide.
“So you can do the math,” Fairfax says. “They clearly can’t go into every one.”
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[OSHA ex-head Jordan] Barab believes the vast majority of companies will comply with the federal vaccine rule once it’s rolled out, but nevertheless, it’s a big moment for OSHA.
“They’ve been kind of this small agency that nobody noticed much, and suddenly they’re thrown into the spotlight with an extremely controversial policy,” he says.
