Office of Information Practices

Opinion Letter No. 95-17
July 26, 1995
Disclosure of Occupational Safety Reports

This letter reconsiders the OIP’s Opinion Letter No. 95-5. The OIP opined that section 396-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was a confidentiality statute whose goal is to encourage persons to report occupational safety violations and that this goal is achieved by assuring the confidentiality of informants’ identities. The OIP then opined that section 396-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, in conjunction with section 92F-13(4), Hawaii Revised Statutes, allowed DLIR to withhold occupational safety reports from the public.

Accordingly, the OIP advised the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (“DLIR”) that it was not required to disclose (1) records of any determinations in section 396-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, administrative proceedings; and/or (2) an informant’s identity and information supplied to DLIR in connection with an investigation of alleged industrial law violations.

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