As the title says, I reported to OSHA for serious health and safety violations involving several things that are hazardous and unprofessional.
Longer version: I work for a famous furniture company(which shall remain nameless on account of being completely safe in terms of facing retaliation) based in the US, and have just passed my 90 days, which is why I feel guilty for submitting a complaint but I’ll get to that in a minute.
The job has been really good to me and is even full time and not commission based(though I do make commission, I am guaranteed an hourly rate regardless if goals are met or not) for $16/hr. I’m a sales associate, and due to the lack of “funding” there isn’t a full crew of warehouse people so most of the time, the assembly of displays falls to us. This was red flag #1 after I was hired, but I have had prior experience in similar furniture jobs that required you to do more than just sales so it doesn’t bother me.
What does bother me is the other few red flags I’ve noticed in the recent weeks.
Firstly, Our supply closet for cleaning supplies and other things is haphazard and VERY dangerous to look at/be around. For instance, there is a cloth tarp for building furniture displays stored ON TOP OF an electrical outlet which is a serious fire hazard, there is an extension cord unplugged and stored near our drain for our mop buckets, which in turn is not even a foot away from an said electrical outlet.
Second, the building our store is housed in is not up to code in both our support pillars as well as the waterproofing for the warehouse portion (water was literally pouring down the walls during monsoon season, and the base of our support pillars is starting to crack and form holes). On account of it being converted from a K-Mart, you’d think the remodel would at least be up to code for crucial things.
Thirdly, there are multiple boxes in our warehouse area that are stored improperly which means one small bump is all it takes to give someone a serious injury. This is the most minor as it can be fixed with a day of labor.
What made me regret posting the complaint was the fact i just made it out of my 90 days in a right-to-work state and I didn’t tell my boss about any of these violations in fear of losing my job.
I need to know I didn’t make a mistake, but I’m not too sure. Is my job done for?