The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published in the
Federal Register a final rule establishing procedures for handling whistleblower
complaints under the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002,
also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, one of 14 laws with whistleblower
protections (www.osha.gov/dep/oia/whistleblower/index.html) administered by OSHA.

The law was enacted July 30, 2002, to protect employees in publicly traded
companies and their contractors, subcontractors or agents from retaliation for
providing information that an employee believes is a violation of a Securities
and Exchange Commission rule or other federal law relating to fraud against
shareholders. OSHA has received a total of 307 employee complaints filed under
the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act since its inception.

The rule establishes procedures for the expeditious handling of discrimination
complaints made by employees or by persons acting on their behalf. Included in
the rule are procedures for submitting complaints under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,
investigations and issuing findings and preliminary orders. A major part of the
rule details litigation procedures and how one can object to the findings and
request a hearing. The final section of the rule discusses miscellaneous
provisions including withdrawals of complaints and settlements and judicial
review and judicial enforcement.

OSHA also published a fact sheet
(www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_WhistleblowerFacts/whistleblowers_corporatefraud-factsheet.pdf)
last year describing whistleblower protections for workers employed by publicly
traded companies or their contractors, subcontractors or agents. The fact sheet
details a worker's rights as a whistleblower as well as instructions on how to
file complaints.