House Committee Approves Miner Safety Bill

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Ilyse Schuman

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Education and Labor voted 30-17 to approve the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663), (pdf) legislation that – in addition to addressing mine safety – would significantly increase employer civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, strengthen whistleblower protections and provide greater rights for victims of accidents and their family members to participate in proceedings under the OSH Act. The bill also would require employers, upon receipt of a citation, to abate the alleged violation and establish a process for a Motion to Stay abatement wherein the employer would have to meet the preliminary injunction standard of proving "substantial likelihood of success" in defeating the citation.

The vote followed a markup session during which members further considered the bill.

In his opening statement, (pdf) Chairman George Miller (D-CA) noted that:

[u]nder the bill, civil penalties will be increased for the second time in 40 years and indexed to inflation like nearly every other federal law. Strong whistleblower protections in this legislation granted to miners will be extended to all workers. And the requirement that employers abate health and safety hazards pending an appeal will be extended to all workplaces, not just mines.

During the markup hearing, a number of amendments to the bill were submitted (copies of which can be found here) including an amendment to strike the OSHA provisions which was defeated.

The bill is expected to be considered on the House Floor next week.

For more information on this legislation, see Littler’s ASAP: New Federal Safety and Health Act Legislation Proposed by Thomas Benjamin Huggett, Ilyse Schuman, and Jennifer Mora.

Photo credit:  MBPHOTO, INC.
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House and Senate Committee Hearings Focus on Workplace Safety Issues

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Jay Sumner

On April 28, both the House and Senate conducted hearings to address the adequacy of employer incentives for maintaining safe workplaces and penalties for violating Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) laws. Lawmakers in both chambers stressed the need for OSH reform.

The House Committee on Education and Labor’s hearing examined whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) laws ensure that employers who fail to protect their workers are adequately penalized and deterred from committing future violations. Claiming that penalties against employers who commit OSH Act violations are “shockingly low,” Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee's Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, testified that the bill she introduced last week – the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) – would provide necessary OSH Act reform, including increased civil and criminal penalties for employers. A video of her testimony can be found here.

Other speakers and their testimony can be found here.

Similarly, during the hearing held by the Senate Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) claimed that current workplace safety laws rely too heavily on voluntary employer compliance and “watered down” penalties. According to Murray, OSHA has not lived up to its mission. She claimed that a new administration and Congress can “revisit” the OSH Act and the agency responsible for administering it.

Warren K. Brown, President of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), however, testified that while some changes to the Act are needed, wholesale changes could “diminish OSHA’s capability to be this nation’s leader in occupational safety and health.” Brown suggested that since the vast majority of employers implement safety programs and abide by them, OSHA should “direct its enforcement resources where the greatest gains in safety can be achieved – towards those employers with a history of flagrantly ignoring their compliance responsibilities.”

A complete list of the senate hearing panelists and their testimony can be found here.
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