I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2199 

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to authorize 

the Secretary of Labor to prevent employee exposure to imminent dangers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2009 

Mr. BISHOP of New York (for himself, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. HARE, Mr. 

KUCINICH, and Mr. SABLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 

to authorize the Secretary of Labor to prevent employee 

exposure to imminent dangers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Workers 

5 From Imminent Dangers Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STREAMLINED PROCEDURES TO COUNTERACT IM2 MINENT DANGERS. 

3 (a) PROCEDURES.—Section 13 of the Occupational 

4 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 662) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by striking subsections (a), (b), and (c) and 

7 inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(a)(1) If the Secretary determines, on the basis of 

9 an inspection or investigation under this Act, that a condi10 tion or practice in a place of employment is such that an 

11 imminent danger to safety or health exists that could rea12 sonably be expected to cause death or serious physical 

13 harm or permanent impairment of the health or functional 

14 capacity of employees if not corrected immediately or be15 fore the imminence of such danger can be eliminated 

16 through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided by 

17 this Act, the Secretary shall inform the employer and the 

18 affected employees and their representative of such immi19 nent danger and shall request that the condition or prac20 tice be corrected immediately or that employees be imme21 diately removed from exposure to such danger. 

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall not prevent the entry or con23 tinued activity of employees whose presence is necessary 

24 to avoid, correct, or remove such imminent danger or to 

25 maintain the capacity of a continuous process operation 

26 to resume normal operations without a complete cessation 


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1 of operations or, where a cessation of operations is nec2 essary, to permit such to be accomplished in a safe and 

3 orderly manner. 

4 ‘‘(3) If the employer refuses to comply with the re5 quest under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall imme6 diately issue an order requiring the employer to cause all 

7 persons, except those employees referred to in paragraph 

8 (2), to be withdrawn from, and to be prohibited from en9 tering, such area until an authorized representative of the 

10 Secretary determines that such imminent danger and the 

11 conditions or practices which caused such imminent dan12 ger no longer exist. The issuance of an order under this 

13 subsection shall not preclude the issuance of a citation 

14 under section 9 or the proposing of a penalty under section 

15 17. The fact that an order under paragraph (3) has been 

16 issued shall be noted in any citation issued pursuant to 

17 section 9 with respect to the hazard involved. 

18 ‘‘(4) Each finding made and order issued under this 

19 section shall be given promptly to the employer by the per20 son making such finding or order. All such findings and 

21 orders shall be in writing, and shall be signed by the per22 son making them and shall contain a detailed description 

23 of the conditions or practices which cause and constitute 

24 an imminent danger and a description of the area of the 


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1 place of employment from which persons must be with2 drawn and prohibited from entering. 

3 ‘‘(5) Any order issued pursuant to subsection (a) may 

4 be modified or terminated by an authorized representative 

5 of the Secretary following consultation with the employer 

6 and any representative of the affected employees. Any 

7 order issued under subsection (a) shall remain in effect 

8 until vacated, modified, or terminated by the Secretary, 

9 or modified or vacated by the Commission pursuant to 

10 subsection (d).’’; and 

11 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub12 section (b) and after such subsection inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(c) No person shall discharge or in any manner dis15 criminate against any employee because such employee 

16 has refused to perform a duty that has been identified as 

17 the source of an imminent danger by any order issued 

18 under subsection (a). The right to refuse to perform such 

19 a duty shall be in addition to any other right to refuse 

20 to perform hazardous work that is afforded to employees 

21 by this Act, by standards or regulations issued pursuant 

22 to this Act, by contract, or by other applicable law. 

23 ‘‘(d)(1) Any employer notified of an order under sub24 section (a) or any affected employees or representative of 

25 affected employees notified of the issuance, modification, 


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1 or termination of such an order may apply to the Commis2 sion within 30 days of such notification for reinstatement, 

3 modification or vacation of such order. The Commission 

4 shall forthwith afford an opportunity for a hearing (in ac5 cordance with section 554 of title 5, United States Code, 

6 but without regard to subsection (a)(3) of such section) 

7 and thereafter shall issue an order, based upon findings 

8 of fact, vacating, affirming, modifying, or terminating the 

9 Secretary’s order. The Commission may not grant tem10 porary relief from the issuance of any order under sub11 section (a). 

12 ‘‘(2) The Commission shall take whatever action is 

13 necessary to expedite proceedings under this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(e) The Secretary may institute a civil action for re15 lief, including a permanent or temporary injunction, re16 straining order, or any other appropriate order in the dis17 trict court of the United States for the district in which 

18 a place of employment is located or in which the employer 

19 has his principal office, whenever such employer or his 

20 agent violates or fails or refuses to comply with any order 

21 or decision issued under this section.’’. 

22 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 17 of such Act is amended 

23 by redesignating subsections (h) through (l) as subsections 

24 (i) through (m), respectively, and by inserting after sub25 section (g) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(h) Any employer who fails to remove all employees 

2 from exposure to a hazard referenced in orders issued 

3 under section 13(a) shall be assessed a civil penalty of not 

4 less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000 for each 

5 day during which an employee continues to be exposed to 

6 the hazard, unless the Commission or the district court 

7 determines the condition or practice is not of such nature 

8 as to be covered by section 13(a).’’. 

Æ 


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