OSHA Phone Numbers in NY: Area Offices and Anonymous Reporting

To reach OSHA about a workplace in New York, call the national hotline at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), available 24 hours a day for emergencies and general questions. For a specific worksite, it’s faster to call the OSHA area office that covers the county where the workplace is located. New York has six area offices plus a district office in Queens, each with its own direct line. One important boundary: federal OSHA only handles private-sector workplaces, federal agencies, maritime employers, military facilities, and the U.S. Postal Service. If you work for a state or local government in New York — including county, town, village, school district, public authority, or fire department jobs — your complaint goes to the state’s Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Bureau at the New York State Department of Labor instead.¹²

OSHA Area Office Numbers in New York

These are the offices that actually dispatch compliance officers, conduct inspections, and issue citations. Call the one that covers the worksite’s county:¹

Albany Area Office: (518) 464-4338 — eastern and northern New York
Buffalo Area Office: (716) 551-3053 — western New York
Long Island Area Office: (516) 334-3344 — 1400 Old Country Road, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590
Manhattan Area Office: (212) 620-3200 — Manhattan and surrounding areas
Queens District Office: (718) 279-9060 — 45-17 Marathon Parkway, Little Neck, NY 11362 (a district office under Manhattan)
Syracuse Area Office: (315) 451-0808 — central New York
Tarrytown Area Office: (914) 524-7510 — the Hudson Valley

If you call the wrong office, staff will usually transfer you, but the handoff takes time you may not have when conditions are dangerous. When in doubt, the national hotline can route you.

Which Number To Call

Pick the number based on what you need.

For an emergency — an active collapse, chemical release, workplace fatality, or any situation that could cause death or serious harm right now — call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). Intake staff on that line can flag imminent-danger reports for priority response, and OSHA aims to inspect the same day the report comes in, no later than the next day.³ Employers themselves must report any work-related death within 8 hours and any hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours, and the hotline is the number for that too.

To file a hazard complaint about a specific workplace, call the area office for that county, using the list above.

For administrative and policy questions covering New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Region 2 Office in New York City can be reached at (212) 337-2378.⁴ The regional office oversees enforcement strategy rather than individual complaint intake, so most callers with a specific workplace concern should use an area office.

If you need help in a language other than English, the Department of Labor can provide oral translation in over 140 languages, and OSHA’s complaint form is available in Spanish.⁵

What To Have Ready When You Call

The intake officer will ask for specific details. Having these on hand makes it more likely the complaint moves to action:⁶

The employer’s legal business name, the physical worksite address, and the name of a manager or owner
The type of business — construction, manufacturing, restaurant, warehouse, and so on
A clear description of the hazard: what it is, where in the building or worksite it exists, and how long it has been present. Specifics like blocked fire exits, missing fall protection, or chemical exposure without ventilation give inspectors something to work with. “The place seems unsafe” does not.
Your name, address, and phone number if you want OSHA to be able to follow up

Call as soon as possible after noticing a hazard. OSHA generally cannot issue violations for conditions that existed more than six months before the complaint was filed.⁷

Reporting Anonymously or Confidentially

You have two options for keeping your identity out of it. Anonymous means you never give your name at all. Confidential means you give OSHA your name but ask that it be kept off any records shared with the employer. Federal law backs the confidential option: under 29 U.S.C. § 657(f)(1), if you request confidentiality, your name will not appear on the copy of the complaint provided to the employer or on publicly released records.⁸

There is a tradeoff. A signed complaint — even a confidential one — is more likely to produce an on-site inspection than an anonymous tip.⁷ If the hazard is serious enough to need an inspector on the ground, putting your name on it strengthens the case.

If You’ve Been Retaliated Against for Reporting

It is illegal for your employer to fire you, demote you, cut your hours, or take any other adverse action because you filed a safety complaint, took part in an OSHA inspection, or raised a safety concern. The protection comes from Section 11(c) of the OSH Act.⁹

You have 30 days from the date of the adverse action to file a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, and that deadline is strict. File through the same area office that handles safety complaints, or submit the whistleblower complaint online at osha.gov.¹⁰ If the agency determines the employer violated the law, it can bring a federal court action seeking reinstatement and back pay. Thirty days goes fast. If something feels retaliatory, file first and sort out the details after.

Other Ways To Reach OSHA

Phone is not the only channel. You can file a complaint online at osha.gov/form/osha7 (English or Spanish), mail or fax a completed OSHA-7 form to your area office, email the form or a letter describing the hazard, or walk into any area office during business hours.⁷ The information OSHA needs is the same regardless of channel: employer name and address, hazard description, and your contact details if you want follow-up.

1
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. State Plan and OSHA Area Offices – New York
2
New York State Department of Labor. Public Employee Safety and Health
3
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Field Operations Manual – Chapter 11 – Imminent Danger, Fatality, Catastrophe, and Emergency Response
4
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. New York City Region
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Plan for Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency
6
Worker.gov. Filing a Complaint With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
7
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. File a Complaint
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 657 – Inspections, Investigations, and Recordkeeping
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 660 – Judicial Review
10
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Online Whistleblower Complaint Form