|
News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Monday, July 11, 2005
Worker Safety Threatened
The package of bad OSHA bills introduced earlier this year is scheduled for a House vote on July 12. AFL-CIO gives analysis of the four bills:
- H.R. 742 Occupational Safety and Health Small Employer Access to Justice Act - This bill requires taxpayers to pay the legal costs of small employers (defined as employers with 100 or fewer employees and up to $7 million net worth) who prevail in any administrative or enforcement case brought by OSHA or any challenge to an OSHA standard, regardless of whether the action was substantially justified.
- H.R. 741 Occupational Safety and Health Independent Review of OSHA Citations Act - This bill would radically change the implementation and enforcement of the OSHAct, and would undermine the Secretary of Labor’s authority to interpret and enforce the law. The bill would overturn a 1991 Supreme Court decision and say that deference should be given to the OSHA Review Commission, and not the Secretary of Labor, in interpreting OSHA standards.
- H.R. 740 Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Efficiency Act - This bill expands the number of members on the OSHA Review Commission from three to five, and mandates that all members have legal training.
- H.R. 739 Occupational Safety and Health Small Business Day in Court Act - This bill would excuse employers from the fifteen-day deadline for contesting OSHA citations and “failure to abate” notices if they can show “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect” as the reason.
The bills passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate. Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA), who introduced the bills, expects them to pass with a greater margin in the House this year. HELP Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee Chair Johnny Isakson (R-GA) is expected to support the bills.
Posted by Genevieve Smith
|