Only 49 of 400 COVID-19 complaints from Wisconsin workers inspected

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- New records show hundreds of complaints about COVID-19 safety concerns from Wisconsin workers.

Out of nearly 400 complaints to OSHA from October through early March, only 49 were followed up with an inspection.

OSHA says the rest were handled through an informal procedure, which only involves talking to the employer or mailing them a letter. Many of these complaints came from employees in Milwaukee and Madison.

"We haven't seen any type of regulatory actions taken against companies that are clearly in violation of those OSHA statutes," Colin Good, employment attorney at Hawks Quindel, said. 

Part of the lack of action from the feds is because OSHA has no formal guidance for addressing infectious disease in the workplace. Under the Biden administration, OSHA is ramping up enforcement of virus safety procedures, including increasing inspections and fines.