Examining the Offshore Oil & Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2013

Published September 23, 2013 14:12

In 2011, Rep. George Miller (D-CA11) introduced H.R. 503 to provide whistleblower protections to certain workers in the offshore oil and gas industry. The Bill has been reintroduced as H.R. 1649: Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2013, because, according to the Bill, “currently there is no federal law that protects oil and gas workers if they are retaliated against after they blow the whistle on workplace health and safety violations on the Outer Continental Shelf.”

The Bill is designed to protect oil rig workers, like those on the Deepwater Horizon, who are currently at risk of losing their jobs if they report dangerous workplace conditions or raise concerns about rig health and safety.

Supporters of this Bill believe that workers’ rights and jobs should be protected if they raise concerns and they should also have the right to stop working when they fear conditions could cause a job-related injury or death.

According to the Committee on Education & the Workforce website, the Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2013 “extends whistleblower protections to employees of employers working on the Outer Continental Shelf performing oil and gas exploration, drilling, production, or oil spill cleanup.”

You can learn more or read the full text of the bill here:
http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/

Please visit our page on landowner oil and gas lease protection to learn more.