Whistleblowing

A whistleblower is usually an employee, but may be a contractor, supplier, volunteer or former staff member. Reports go internally to a manager, ethics hotline or board committee, or externally to a regulator, the police or, in some regimes, the press. Many people try the internal route first, though many laws also allow direct external reporting. The subject is wrongdoing that matters to the organisation or the public, as opposed to a personal grievance such as a pay dispute. It differs from a customer complaint or an audit finding because it comes from an insider's knowledge. Whistleblowers often face retaliation, which is why laws and policies protect them. Surveys by fraud examiner bodies regularly list tips from insiders as the most common way fraud is first detected.

A safety inspector at a chemicals plant sees that a pressure valve has been signed off without testing. When his supervisor ignores him, he reports it to the company's hotline and then to the safety regulator. An inspection finds several untested valves, and the plant stops operating until they are checked.