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James K. Polk Building, Suite 1800
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: 615.741.2416
Fax: 615.532.2220
File a Safety/Health Complaint
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1972 provides employees and/or their representatives the right
to file complaints and request inspections if concerned with the possible existence of safety and health hazards.
Complaints from employees
and their representatives are taken seriously by TOSHA.
If you would like to report hazards at your workplace to TOSHA:
Mail or fax a completed complaint form.
Send the form to following:
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Division of
Occupational Safety and Health
220 French Landing Drive
Nashville, Tennessee 37243
Phone: (800) 249-8510
Fax: (615) 741-3325
Employers are required by law to report all workplace fatalities within EIGHT hours of occurrence. All work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and loss of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.
TOSHA Health Compliance Officers have been trained as industrial hygienists to evaluate workplaces for chemical, physical, and biological
hazards. They are involved with monitoring and analyzing occupational health conditions in the workplace to detect the extent of exposure and the
engineering and other methods - work practices and personal protective equipment - needed to control these hazards.
The health compliance
officers are positioned throughout the state in six area offices. They survey both private and public sector workplaces to determine compliance with
the health standards in 29 CFR 1910 (General Industry), 29 CFR 1926 (Construction) and 29 CFR 1928 (Agriculture) as adopted by Tennessee OSHA.
Tennessee OSHA enforces the Z-1-A permissible exposure limits, the TN Safer Needle Law, and the Tennessee Right to Know Law.
In addition, the
health compliance section is very active in assisting the Training and Education section in developing and providing training on a variety of
occupational health issues. These seminars are held throughout the state. View the list of the current training seminars.
The safety compliance section of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (TOSHA) is responsible for enforcement of the Tennessee
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1972 (Title 5, Chapter 3) with emphasis on employee exposures to physical hazards. Physical hazards include
but are not limited to construction, machine hazards, walking and working surfaces, flammable and combustible liquids, trenching, motorized
equipment, electrical, explosives, fire protection, compressed gases, welding, and means of egress.
This section is staffed by occupational
safety specialists located in our six area offices. Each area office has supervisory staff responsible for scheduling inspections in their areas.
Inspections are scheduled based on reports of employee's who may be exposed to imminent danger, work-related fatalities or catastrophes, complaints
or referrals from other agencies, or programmed inspections. Employers are required to report all workplace fatalities or catastrophes (one or more
employees hospitalized from one incident) within eight hours of occurrence. The toll free number is (800) 249-8510.
Safety Compliance is very
active in promoting safety in the workplace. In addition to conducting approximately 1,400 inspections per year, the safety staff participates in
various training and outreach programs sponsored by the division.
The Public Sector section is staffed with safety and health compliance officers located throughout the state. Each program is evaluated every two
years to assess the program's effectiveness.
The Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) Section 50-3-906 requires each administrative department
or agency of state government to establish and maintain an effective and comprehensive occupational safety and health program. It also requires that
each county, municipal, and other local government provide its employees with conditions of employment consistent with the objectives of the Act,
either by developing its own program of voluntary compliance or by electing to be treated as a private employer (T.C.A.CFR# 50-3-910).
The
Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development of the State of Tennessee is charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing the
provisions of the Act in both the private and public sector. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health Public Sector section monitors each
state and local government entity registered with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
