Offshore oil workers can report hazards without losing their jobs.
H.R. 9947 — Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act · Filed by Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) · Introduced Jul 27, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill stops offshore oil and gas firms from punishing workers who report hazards. Workers can file a complaint with the Department of Labor within 180 days. They must file if they face retaliation. The Department of Labor must look into it within 90 days. If a worker wins, the firm must rehire them. The firm must pay back wages doubled. The firm must remove bad records and pay money for harm. Firms can appeal to a judge, and either side can go to court.
Who it affects
Offshore oil and gas workers gain the right to report hazards without fear. Oil and gas firms must train workers and post notices about these rights.
One thing to notice
Back wages are doubled as a cost to firms. This makes it more costly for them to punish workers who report hazards.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Jul 27, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 27, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- retaliation — punishing someone for reporting a problem or breaking a rule
- Department of Labor — the government office that handles worker complaints and rights
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (15,273 characters) on Jul 28, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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