Although OSHA has the right to conduct private, one-on-one interviews with a company’s non-managerial employees, those same employees have rights too. Those rights include:
- The right to refuse to participate in an interview with OSHA;
- The right to end the interview at any time;
- The right to refuse to allow OSHA to audio or video record the interview;
- The right to refuse to sign a written statement created by OSHA (but if you refuse to sign it, the investigator may not give you a copy of it);
- The right to refuse OSHA’s request for private contact information (i.e., you do not have to give OSHA your private telephone number or email);
- The right to demand an interpreter if English is not your primary language;
- The right to request that a union representative be present during the interview;
- The right to request that your employee’s own personal attorney be present during the interview; and
- The right to have the interview conducted at your workplace.
Keep in mind that an employee’s refusal to cooperate will not stop OSHA’s investigation. If an employee refuses to participate, OSHA can choose to issue a subpoena compelling the employee to submit for an interview. The decision to issue a subpoena will be based on whether OSHA believes the employee’s statement is necessary for its investigation. Even if compelled to participate in an interview, the employee still has rights 2 through 9 as outlined above.