04.18.13

Bill to Strengthen Worker Health and Safety Law Introduced by House Dems

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee reintroduced legislation today that strengthens and modernizes the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970  by giving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tools to ensure that employers promptly correct hazardous working conditions,  protect workers from retaliation when they blow the whistle on unsafe working conditions, and hold employers accountable for violations that cause death or serious injury to workers.   

“Since OSHA was created, great strides have been made in protecting American workers,” said Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee. “However, too many workers are still dying, getting injured, or becoming ill by working in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. These bills will provide OSHA with the additional tools it needs to ensure a safe and healthy workplace for every American.”

“This legislation is vital to improving the health and safety of American workers,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democratic member of the committee. “The fact remains that penalties for harming workers are often the cost of doing business for some employers, if they get inspected at all. Congress needs to work together to increase these outdated penalties and give real teeth to the law so that workers and communities can remain safe while trying to make a living.  As yesterday’s devastating explosion in Texas shows, the benefits of ensuring a safe and health workplace are not just confined to the facility’s property line.  Local communities also have a great deal at stake.”

The Protecting America’s Workers Act will:

  • Protect millions of workers by expanding OSHA coverage to state and local government employees in 25 states, and expand OSHA coverage to include federal employees.
  • Adjust civil penalties that had been eroded by inflation since they were last increased in 1990.
  • Authorize felony prosecutions against employers who knowingly commit OSHA violations that result in death or serious bodily injury and extend such penalties to corporate officers and directors. Criminal penalties are misdemeanors under current law.
  • Ensure worker safety is protected in a timely manner by mandating that employers correct hazardous conditions while a citation for a serious, willful or repeat violation is being contested.  Currently, the requirement to abate violations is stayed while a violation is litigated, leaving workers in harm’s way.
  • Require OSHA to investigate all cases of death and serious injuries that occur within a place of employment.
  • Improve whistleblower protection for workers who call attention to unsafe working conditions.
  • Establish rights for families of workers who were killed on the job, by giving families the right to meet with OSHA investigators, receive copies of citations, and to have an opportunity to make a statement before any settlement negotiations.
  • Improve protections for workers in state plans by allowing the Secretary of Labor to assert concurrent enforcement authority in those states where the plan is substantially out of compliance with minimum requirements needed to protect workers’ safety and health, as recommended by a Government Accountability Office report issued today.

April 28 is Workers' Memorial Day, which is a day to commemorate workers who have been killed on the job and to recommit to making workplaces safer. In 2011, 4,609 workers died on the job, over 3.8 million were injured on the job, and an estimated 50,000 die from occupational diseases arising from exposure to dangerous chemicals or substances during their work career.

Rep. Miller also reintroduced the Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act today.

  • The bill would:Prohibit an employer from engaging in retaliatory actions against offshore oil and gas workers for providing information to an employer or a government official regarding any violation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, or exercising employee rights under that Act; for reporting injuries or unsafe conditions to the employer or a government official; or for refusing to perform work based on a good faith belief that such activity could cause injury, impairment, or an oil spill.
  • Establish a procedure for filing complaints with the Department of Labor and provides for the award of back pay, exemplary damages, attorney fees, and remedies to address the blacklisting of whistleblowers.

For additional information on the Protecting America’s Workers Act, click here.

For additional information on the Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act, click here.