Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1997

Summary: Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) to set forth construction safety requirements. 
Establishes in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education. 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to:  (1) identify construction employers that have high fatality rates or high lost workday injury or illness rates or who have demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance with safety and health standards, rules, and regulations; (2) develop a system for notification of such employers; (3) establish training courses and curriculum for the training of inspectors and other persons employed by OSHA who have duties related to construction safety and health; (4) establish model compliance programs for construction safety and health standards and assist employers, employees, and organizations representing employers and employees in establishing training programs appropriate to such standards; and (5) establish a toll-free line on which reports, complaints, and notifications required under the Act may be made. 
Establishes requirements for construction safety and health plans and programs.  Requires each construction project to have an individual or entity (project constructor) that is responsible for the establishment of the safety and health plan for such project, and for ensuring that the plan is carried out. 
Requires any State plan that covers construction safety and health to contain requirements and enforcement provisions at least as effective as those under specified provisions of the Act and the Contract Work Hours Standards Act. 
Directs the Secretary to:  (1) include additional information on the construction industry and the operation of the Office in an annual report to the President; and (2) deliver to specified congressional committees recommendations for legislative changes required to make bidders' safety records a criterion to be considered in the awarding of Federal construction contracts.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Construction Safety, Health, and 
Education Improvement Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF CONSTRUCTION SAFETY, HEALTH, AND EDUCATION.

    The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
seq.) is amended--
            (1) by striking sections 30, 31, and 34;
            (2) by redesignating sections 32 through 33 as sections 34 
        and 35, respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after section 29 the following:

``SEC. 30. OFFICE OF CONSTRUCTION SAFETY, HEALTH, AND EDUCATION.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration an Office of Construction Safety, 
Health, and Education (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 
`Office') to ensure safe and healthful working conditions in the 
performance of construction work.
    ``(b) Duties.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) identify construction employers that have high 
        fatality rates or high lost workday injury or illness rates or 
        who have demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance with safety 
        and health standards, rules, and regulations;
            ``(2) develop a system for notification of employers 
        identified under paragraph (1);
            ``(3) establish training courses and curriculum for the 
        training of inspectors and other persons with duties related to 
        construction safety and health who are employed by the 
        Occupational Safety and Health Administration;
            ``(4) establish model compliance programs for construction 
        safety and health standards and assist employers, employees, 
        and organizations representing employers and employees in 
        establishing training programs appropriate to such standards; 
        and
            ``(5) establish a toll-free line on which reports, 
        complaints, and notifications required under this Act may be 
        made.''.

SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLANS AND PROGRAMS.

    The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
seq.) (as amended by section 2) is further amended by adding after 
section 30 the following:

``SEC. 31. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLANS AND PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Project Constructor.--The Secretary shall, by regulation, 
require each construction project to have an individual or entity 
(hereinafter referred to as the `project constructor') that is 
responsible for the establishment of the safety and health plan (as 
described in subsection (b)) for such project and for ensuring that the 
plan is carried out. Such regulations shall require that--
            ``(1) if only one general or prime contractor exists on a 
        construction project, such contractor shall be the project 
        constructor, unless such contractor designates another entity 
        with such entity's consent to be the project constructor; and
            ``(2) if a construction project has more than one general 
        or prime contractor, the construction owner shall be the 
        project constructor unless such construction owner designates 
        another entity with such entity's consent to be the project 
        constructor.
    ``(b) Construction Safety and Health Plan.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, by regulation, 
        require that the project constructor for a construction project 
        develop and implement a written construction safety and health 
        plan for the construction project (hereinafter in this section 
        referred to as the `plan') to protect employees against hazards 
        which may occur at such project.
            ``(2) Plan elements.--The plan shall--
                    ``(A) include a hazard analysis and construction 
                process protocol which shall apply to each worksite of 
                the project;
                    ``(B) include assurance that each construction 
                employer on the project has a safety and health program 
                which complies and is coordinated with the plan and the 
                requirements of subsection (c);
                    ``(C) provide for regular inspections of the 
                worksite to monitor the implementation of the plan;
                    ``(D) include a method for notifying affected 
                construction employers of any hazardous conditions at a 
                construction worksite or of noncompliance by an 
                employer with the project safety and health plan;
                    ``(E) include a method for responding to the 
                request of any construction employer, employee, or 
                employee representative, for an inspection of a 
                construction worksite to determine if an imminent 
                danger exists and to stop work at, or remove affected 
                employees from, an area in which such a danger exists;
                    ``(F) provide assurance that a competent person is 
                on site at all times to oversee the implementation of 
                the safety plan and coordinate activities among 
                employers; and
                    ``(G) provide assurance that the plan will be 
                reviewed and modified as the project addresses new 
                safety concerns.
            ``(3) Availability.--Copies of the plan shall be made 
        available to each construction employer prior to commencement 
        of construction work by that employer.
    ``(c) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, by regulation, may modify 
        the requirements of this section, or portions thereof, as such 
        requirements apply to certain types of construction work or 
        operations where the Secretary determines that, in light of the 
        nature of the risks faced by employees engaged in such work or 
        operation, such a modification would not reduce the employees' 
        safety and health protection. In making such modification, the 
        Secretary shall take into account the risk of death or serious 
        injury or illness, and the frequency of fatalities and the lost 
        work day injury rate attendant to such work or operations.
            ``(2) Emergency work.--If it is necessary to perform 
        construction work on a worksite immediately in order to prevent 
        injury to persons, or substantial damage to property, and such 
        work must be conducted before compliance with the requirements 
        of the regulations under subsections (a) and (b) can be made, 
        the Secretary shall be given notice as soon as practicable of 
        such work. Compliance with such requirements shall then be made 
        as soon as practicable thereafter.''.

SEC. 4. STATE CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLANS.

    Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 667) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Any State plan that covers construction safety and health 
shall contain requirements which, and the enforcement of which, are, 
and will be, at least as effective, in providing safe and healthful 
employment and places of employment in the construction industry as the 
requirements contained in subsection (c), and the requirements imposed 
by, and enforced under, this Act and section 107 of the Contract Work 
Hours Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333), including requirements relating to 
construction safety and health plans.''.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Citations.--Section 9(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 658(a)) is amended by inserting ``, 8, or 31'' 
after ``section 5''.
    (b) Project Constructors.--Section 9 of the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 658) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) For purposes of this section and sections 8, 10, 11, and 17 a 
project constructor shall be considered an employer.''.

SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
seq.) (as amended by section 3) is further amended by adding after 
section 31 the following:

``SEC. 32. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    ``The Secretary shall include in the annual report submitted to the 
President under section 26 additional information on the construction 
industry as such information relates to the general subjects described 
in section 26, including the operation of the Office of Construction 
Safety, Health, and Education.

SEC. 7. FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.

    The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
seq.) (as amended by section 6) is further amended by adding after 
section 32 the following:

``SEC. 33. FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.

    ``Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall deliver to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Labor and Human Resources of the Senate recommendations regarding 
legislative changes required to make the safety records (including 
records of compliance with Federal safety and health laws and 
regulations) of persons bidding for contracts subject to section 107 of 
the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333) a 
criterion to be considered in the awarding of such contracts.''.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 652) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(15) For purposes of sections 30 and 31, the following 
        terms shall have the following meanings:
                    ``(A) The term `construction employer' means an 
                employer as defined in paragraph (5) (including an 
                employer who has no employees) who is engaged primarily 
                in the building and construction industry or who 
                performs construction work under a contract with a 
                construction owner, except that a utility providing or 
                receiving mutual assistance in the case of a natural or 
                man-made disaster shall not be considered a 
                construction employer.
                    ``(B) The term `construction owner' means a person 
                who owns, leases or has effective control over property 
                with or without improvements, a structure, or other 
                improvement on real property on which construction work 
                is being, or will be, performed.
                    ``(C) The term `construction project' means all 
                construction work by one or more construction employers 
                which is performed for a construction owner and which 
                is described in work orders, permits, requisitions, 
                agreements, and other project documents.
                    ``(D) The term `construction work' means work for 
                construction, alteration, demolition, or repair, or any 
                combination thereof, including painting and decorating, 
                but does not include work performed under a contract 
                between a construction employer and a homeowner for 
                work on the homeowner's own residence, or routine 
                maintenance and upkeep performed at least monthly, and 
                such term shall include work performed under a contract 
                between a construction employer and an agency of the 
                United States or any State or political subdivision of 
                a State.
                    ``(E) The term `construction worksite' means a site 
                within a construction project where construction work 
                is performed by one or more construction employers.''.

SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING LAW AND REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Nothing contained in the amendments made by this 
Act or the regulations issued to carry out the amendments shall limit 
the application of, or lessen, any of the requirements of the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), the 
Contract Work Hours Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 327 et seq.), or the 
standards or regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor to carry out 
either such Act.
    (b) Project Constructors.--The presence and duties of a project 
constructor or a project safety coordinator on a project shall not in 
any way diminish the responsibilities of construction employers under 
the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 
for the safety and health of their employees.