OSHA Issues Rule on FSMA Whistleblower Protections

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an interim final rule to establish procedures for handling retaliation complaints brought by whistleblowers who gained new protections under section 402 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Effective on February 13, 2014, the interim rule establishes procedures and time frames applicable to retaliation complaints, including rocedures and time frames for employee complaints to OSHA, OSHA investigations, appeals from OSHA determinations, administrative aw judge (ALJ) hearings, Administrative Review Board review of ALJ decisions, and judicial review of the labor secretary’s final decision. omments on the interim final rule are requested by April 14, 2014.

FSMA protects employees from retaliation “by an entity engaged in the manufacture, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, reception, holding, or importation of food,” if the employees either provided or are about to provide their employer, the federal government or a state attorney general with information about Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) violations; they have testified or are about to testify in a proceeding concerning an FDCA violation; or “objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, practice, or assigned task that the employee reasonably believed to be in violation of any provision of the [FDCA] or an order, rule, regulation, standard, or ban under the [FDCA].” See Federal Register, February 13, 2014.

Issue 513