Bill to Regulate Combustible Dust Exposure at Industrial Sites is Reintroduced

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Jay Sumner

As predicted, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor committee, Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, have reintroduced a bill that would regulate combustible dust exposure at industrial sites. The Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act (CDEFA) (H.R. 849), introduced on Wednesday, would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue interim rules on combustible dust within 90 days, followed by final rules within 18 months. CDEFA also would direct OSHA to revise the Hazard Communication Standard to include combustible dusts.

The rules would outline measures to minimize hazards associated with combustible dust through improved housekeeping, engineering controls, worker training and a written combustible dust safety program. These rules would be based on effective voluntary standards devised by the National Fire Protection Association. The rules would further provide requirements for building design and explosion protection.

A similar bill introduced last year (H.R. 5522) cleared the House by a vote of 247-165, but never made it out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The bill was introduced in response to the February 7, 2008 Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion in Port Wentworth, Georgia, that was caused by combustible sugar dust. The Congressional Budget Office had estimated that CDEFA would have increased OSHA’s enforcement workload by about five percent per year at a cost of approximately $10 million a year. If the current bill passes, it would likely have an impact on a broad spectrum of industries, the costs of which are unknown because there is likely a great variance from employer to employer how compliant they are with pre-existing standards and how up-to-date they are in the procedures and controls that are already in place.

Given the current makeup of the Senate and President Obama’s pledge to improve worker safety and strengthen OSHA enforcement, there is a greater chance this session that this bill could become law. At the moment, CDEFA has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
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Potential Workplace Safety Laws Aim to Place Increased Burdens on Employers

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Governmental Affairs Team

Workplace safety has been touted as a top priority for the Obama Administration. Increased safety measures, however, often come at a high price for employers. A number of failed bills introduced during the Bush Administration will likely get a second viewing by the 111th Congress. These measures include:

  • Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) (H.R. 2049, S. 1244). This Act amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSH Act”) by, among other things, increasing civil and criminal penalties for employer violations, lowering the threshold for holding an employer criminally responsible for an employee’s death, and providing for felony charges for an employer’s repeated and willful violations that result in a worker’s death or serious injury. Additionally, revised regulations would likely require employers to go even beyond their current obligations, and shoulder the entire financial burden in providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to employees.
  • Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act of 2008 (CDEFA) (H.R. 5522). This act would mandate a final rule regulating combustible dusts in the workplace, and would apply to manufacturing, processing, blending, conveying, repackaging, and handling of combustible particulate solids and their dusts. CDEFA would not apply to processes already covered by OSHA’s standard on grain facilities. This law would impact a broad spectrum of industries that manufacture, process, or otherwise handle materials that produce combustible dusts, requiring them to implement dust assessment, control, and employee safety training programs, among other obligations. Because the rules that would accompany this act have not been established, it is not yet clear how much this will cost the private sector. To the extent CDEFA does not overlap with preexisting rules and standards, it could be very costly to employers not in compliance with the final rule.
  • Nurse and Patient Safety Protection Act of 2007 (H.R. 378). This act would have directed OSHA to issue new ergonomics regulations for the health care industry. This bill was in response to President Bush’s repeal of the highly controversial ergonomics regulations issued by OSHA during the Clinton Administration. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress was able to rescind the regulations, and OSHA is not permitted to issue new ones without Congressional approval. Since any new ergonomics regulations must go through the legislative process, business interests will have the opportunity to voice opposition to bills such as the Nurse and Patent Safety Protection Act, which will likely emerge during the Obama Administration.

These and other safety–related measures will be closely followed
 

 

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