I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1280

To revise the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 10, 1993

Mr. FORD of Michigan (for himself, Mr. CLAY, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr.

MURPHY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SAWYER, Mr.

PAYNE of New Jersey, Mrs. UNSOELD, Mrs. MINK, Mr. ANDREWS of

New Jersey, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr.

STRICKLAND, Mr. DE LUGO, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced the

following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Education

and Labor and House Administration

JULY 22, 1993

Additional Sponsors: Mr. DINGELL, Mr. MCCLOSKEY, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. STOKES, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. NADLER, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. FILNER, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. RANGEL, Mr.

LANTOS, Mr. SABO, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.

TORRES, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. MINETA, Mr. BROWN of California, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.

FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. EDWARDS

of California, Mr. STARK, Mr. BARLOW, Mr. WILSON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr.

LAFALCE, Mr. VENTO, Mr. DIXON, Mr. EVANS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr.

YATES, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr.

HINCHEY, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. MFUME, Mrs. COLLINS of

Illinois, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. WYNN, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr.

HALL of Ohio, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. FLAKE, Mr.

STUDDS, Mr. BILBRAY, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. SLAUGHTER

A BILL

To revise the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
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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; REFERENCE; TABLE OF CON4 TENTS.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform

7 Act’’.

8 (b) REFERENCE.—Except as otherwise specifically

9 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal

10 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,

11 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid12 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the Oc13 cupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651

14 et seq.).

15 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is

16 as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; reference; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

TITLE I—SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS

Sec. 101. Safety and health programs.

TITLE II—SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEES AND EMPLOYEE

SAFETY AND HEALTH REPRESENTATIVES

Sec. 201. Safety and health committees and employee safety and health representatives.

TITLE III—COVERAGE

Sec. 301. Extension of coverage to public employees.

Sec. 302. Congressional coverage.

Sec. 303. Application of OSHA to DOE nuclear facilities.

Sec. 304. Extension of employer duties to all employees working at a place of

employment.

TITLE IV—OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS
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Sec. 401. Time frames for setting standards.

Sec. 402. Occupational safety and health standard.

Sec. 403. Recording of adverse medical condition.

Sec. 404. Public disclosure of all communications on standards.

Sec. 405. Revision of permissible exposure limits.

Sec. 406. Exposure monitoring and health surveillance.

Sec. 407. Standard on ergonomic hazards.

Sec. 408. Emergency temporary standard.

Sec. 409. Air contaminants.

TITLE V—ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 501. No loss of employee pay for inspections.

Sec. 502. Time frame for response to complaints.

Sec. 503. Complaints.

Sec. 504. Mandatory special emphasis.

Sec. 505. Investigations of deaths and serious incidents.

Sec. 506. Abatement of serious hazards during employer contests to a citation.

Sec. 507. Right to contest citations and penalties.

Sec. 508. Right of employee representatives to participate in other proceedings.

Sec. 509. Objections to modification of citations.

Sec. 510. Imminent danger inspections.

Sec. 511. Citations and penalties for violations.

Sec. 512. OSHA criminal penalties.

Sec. 513. Commission members’ terms.

Sec. 514. Inspections.

Sec. 515. Employee accountability.

Sec. 516. Serious penalty.

TITLE VI—PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEES FROM DISCRIMINATION

Sec. 601. Antidiscrimination provisions.

Sec. 602. Posting of employee rights.

TITLE VII—TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING

Sec. 701. Technical assistance to employers and employees.

TITLE VIII—RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING

Sec. 801. Data collected by Secretary.

Sec. 802. Employee reported illnesses.

Sec. 803. Employee access.

TITLE IX—NIOSH

Sec. 901. Hazard evaluation reports.

Sec. 902. Safety research.

Sec. 903. Contractor rights.

Sec. 904. National surveillance program.

Sec. 905. Establishment of NIOSH as a separate agency within Public Health

Service.

Sec. 906. Conforming amendments changing references from HEW to HHS.

Sec. 907. NIOSH Training.

TITLE X—STATE PLANS

Sec. 1001. State plan committees and programs.
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Sec. 1002. Access to information; employee rights.

Sec. 1003. Application of Federal standards.

Sec. 1004. Complaints against a State plan.

Sec. 1005. Action against State plan.

Sec. 1006. State plan conforming amendments.

Sec. 1007. Validity of State laws.

TITLE XI—VICTIM’S RIGHTS

Sec. 1101. Victim’s rights.

TITLE XII—CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

Sec. 1201. Definitions.

Sec. 1202. Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education.

Sec. 1203. Construction safety and health plans and programs.

Sec. 1204. Inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping.

Sec. 1205. Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health.

Sec. 1206. State construction safety and health plans.

Sec. 1207. Construction Safety and Health Academy.

Sec. 1208. Enforcement.

Sec. 1209. Reports to Congress.

Sec. 1210. Federal construction contracts.

Sec. 1211. Relationship to existing law and regulations.

Sec. 1212. Timetable for regulations.

TITLE XIII—WORKER’S COMPENSATION STUDY

Sec. 1301. Commission.

TITLE XIV—ADMINISTRATION

Sec. 1401. Administration.

TITLE XV—EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 1501. Effective date.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) during the past two decades progress has

4 been made in reducing workplace deaths, injuries,

5 and exposure to toxic substances through efforts of

6 Federal agencies, States, employers, employees, and

7 employee representatives;

8 (2) despite the progress described in paragraph

9 (1), work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths con-
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1 tinue to occur at rates that are unacceptable and

2 that impose a substantial burden upon employers,

3 employees, and the Nation in terms of lost produc4 tion, wage loss, medical expenses, compensation pay5 ments, and disability;

6 (3) employers and employees are not suffi7 ciently involved in working together in joint efforts

8 to identify and correct occupational safety and

9 health hazards;

10 (4) employers and employees require better

11 training to identify safety and health problems;

12 (5) mandatory regulation is necessary to pro13 tect employees from health and safety hazards but

14 Federal agency standard setting has not kept pace

15 with knowledge about such hazards;

16 (6) enforcement of occupational safety and

17 health standards has not been adequate to bring

18 about timely abatement of hazardous conditions or

19 to deter violations of occupational safety and health

20 standards.

21 (7) millions of employees exposed to serious oc22 cupational safety and health hazards are excluded

23 from full coverage under the Occupational Safety

24 and Health Act of 1970; and
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1 (8) the lack of accurate data and information

2 on work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses has

3 impeded efforts to prevent such deaths, injuries, and

4 illnesses.

5 TITLE I—SAFETY AND HEALTH

6 PROGRAMS

7 SEC. 101. SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 27 (29 U.S.C. 676) is

9 amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘SEC. 27. SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

12 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—Each employer shall establish

13 and carry out in accordance with this section a safe14 ty and health program to reduce or eliminate haz15 ards and to prevent injuries and illnesses to employ16 ees.

17 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATIONS TO SAFETY AND HEALTH

18 PROGRAMS.—The Secretary may, by regulations is19 sued under subsection (c)(1), modify the require20 ments of this section on classes of employers where

21 the Secretary determines that in light of the nature

22 of the risks faced by the employers’ employees, such

23 a modification would not adversely affect employee

24 safety and health.
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1 ‘‘(3) WORKSITE DEFINITION.—As used in this

2 section and section 28, the term ‘worksite’ means a

3 single physical location where business is conducted

4 or operations are performed by employees of an em5 ployer.

6 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each employer covered by

7 this section shall establish and carry out a written safety

8 and health program that includes—

9 ‘‘(1) methods and procedures for identifying,

10 evaluating, and documenting safety and health haz11 ards, including investigating and recording work-re12 lated illnesses, injuries, and deaths;

13 ‘‘(2) methods and procedures for correcting the

14 safety and health hazards identified under para15 graph (1);

16 ‘‘(3) methods and procedures for providing

17 emergency response first-aid and other occupational

18 health services;

19 ‘‘(4) methods and procedures for employee par20 ticipation in the implementation of the employer’s

21 safety and health program, including participation

22 through a safety and health committee established

23 under section 28, where applicable;

24 ‘‘(5) methods and procedures for providing

25 safety and health training and education to employ-
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1 ees and to members of a safety and health commit2 tee established under section 28;

3 ‘‘(6) the designation of representatives of the

4 employer who have the qualifications and respon5 sibility to identify safety and health hazards and the

6 authority to initiate corrective action where appro7 priate;

8 ‘‘(7) in the case of a worksite where employees

9 of two or more employers work, procedures for each

10 employer to protect employees at the worksite from

11 hazards under the employer’s control, including pro12 cedures to provide information on safety and health

13 hazards to other employers and employees at the

14 worksite; and

15 ‘‘(8) such other provisions as the Secretary re16 quires to effectuate the purposes of this Act.

17 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS ON EMPLOYER SAFETY AND

18 HEALTH PROGRAMS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall within

20 one year of the effective date of the Comprehensive

21 Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act issue

22 final regulations on employer safety and health pro23 grams required by subsection (a) which shall take ef24 fect no later than 18 months after such effective

25 date.
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1 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS ON TRAINING AND EDU2 CATION.—The regulations of the Secretary under

3 paragraph (1) respecting an employer’s safety and

4 health program shall—

5 ‘‘(A)(i) provide for training and education

6 of employees at the time of employment, in a

7 manner that is readily understood by such em8 ployees, concerning safety and health hazards,

9 control measures, and the employer’s safety and

10 health program;

11 ‘‘(ii) provide for the dissemination of infor12 mation to employees at the time of employment,

13 in a manner that is readily understood by such

14 employees, regarding employee rights and appli15 cable laws and regulations; and

16 ‘‘(iii) provide for training and education of

17 employees who are selected to be safety and

18 health committee members, at the time of their

19 selection, to enable such employees to carry out

20 the activities of the committee under section 28;

21 and

22 ‘‘(B) require that refresher training be

23 provided on at least an annual basis and that

24 additional training be provided to employees

25 and to safety and health committee members
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1 when there are changes in conditions or oper2 ations that may expose employees to new or dif3 ferent safety or health hazards or when there

4 are changes in safety and health regulations or

5 standards under this Act that apply to the em6 ployer.

7 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF PROGRAMS.—The regu8 lations of the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall

9 provide that any specific program or training re10 quirements imposed by regulations issued under sec11 tion 6 may be combined or coordinated with an em12 ployer’s safety and health program.

13 ‘‘(4) NO LOSS OF PAY.—The time during which

14 employees are participating in training and edu15 cation provided in accordance with the regulations of

16 the Secretary shall be considered hours worked for

17 purposes of wages, benefits, and other terms and

18 conditions of employment. The training and edu19 cation shall be provided by an employer at no cost

20 to the employer’s employees.’’.
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1 TITLE II—SAFETY AND HEALTH

2 COMMITTEES AND EMPLOYEE

3 SAFETY AND HEALTH REP4 RESENTATIVES

5 SEC. 201. SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEES AND EM6 PLOYEE SAFETY AND HEALTH REPRESENTA7 TIVES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 28 is amended to read as

9 follows:

10 ‘‘SEC. 28. SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEES AND EM11 PLOYEE SAFETY AND HEALTH REPRESENTA12 TIVES.

13 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to

14 bring employees and employers together in a

15 nonadversarial, cooperative effort to promote safety and

16 health in each worksite. A safety and health committee

17 established under subsection (b) assists the employer and

18 makes recommendations regarding methods of addressing

19 safety and health hazards.

20 ‘‘(b) SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE ESTABLISH21 MENT.—Each employer of 11 or more employees shall es22 tablish a safety and health committee at each worksite of

23 the employer except as provided in subsections (e) and (g)

24 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘safety and

25 health committee’). For purposes of this section, the term
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1 ‘employee’ means an employee who is employed by an em2 ployer an average of 20 or more hours per week.

3 ‘‘(c) COMMITTEE RIGHTS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each safety and health

5 committee shall have the right, within reasonable

6 limits and in a reasonable manner, to—

7 ‘‘(A) review any safety and health program

8 established under section 27;

9 ‘‘(B) review incidents resulting in work-re10 lated deaths, injuries, and illnesses and com11 plaints regarding safety or health hazards by

12 employees or safety and health committee mem13 bers;

14 ‘‘(C) review, upon request to the employer

15 by any safety and health committee member,

16 the employer’s work injury and illness records,

17 other than personally identifiable medical infor18 mation, and other reports or documents relating

19 to occupational safety and health;

20 ‘‘(D) conduct inspections of the worksite at

21 least once every 3 months and in response to

22 complaints regarding safety or health hazards

23 by employees or safety and health committee

24 members;
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1 ‘‘(E) conduct interviews with employees in

2 conjunction with inspections of the worksite;

3 ‘‘(F) conduct meetings at least once every

4 3 months and maintain written minutes of such

5 meetings;

6 ‘‘(G) observe the measurement of employee

7 exposure to toxic materials and harmful phys8 ical agents;

9 ‘‘(H) establish procedures for exercising

10 the rights of the safety and health committee;

11 and

12 ‘‘(I) make, and receive a response from the

13 employer to—

14 ‘‘(i) recommendations on behalf of the

15 safety and health committee (including the

16 separate views of any member of the com17 mittee), or

18 ‘‘(ii) recommendations on behalf of

19 the employer or employee representatives

20 on such safety and health committee,

21 to the employer for improvements in the em22 ployer’s safety and health program and for the

23 correction of hazards to employee safety or

24 health.
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1 Recommendations under subparagraph (I) shall be

2 advisory only and the employer shall retain full au3 thority to manage the worksite.

4 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMIT5 TEE ACTIVITIES.—The employer shall permit mem6 bers of the safety and health committee to take such

7 time from work as is reasonably necessary to exer8 cise the rights of the committee, without suffering

9 any loss of wages, benefits, and other terms and

10 conditions of employment for time spent on duties of

11 the committee.

12 ‘‘(d) SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE.—

13 ‘‘(1) MEMBERSHIP.—Each safety and health

14 committee shall consist of the employee safety and

15 health representatives selected or appointed under

16 paragraph (3) and up to an equal number of em17 ployer representatives.

18 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND HEALTH REP19 RESENTATIVES.—The safety and health committee

20 shall include—

21 ‘‘(A) 1 employee safety and health rep22 resentative at each worksite where the average

23 number of nonmanagerial employees of the em24 ployer during the year ending January 1 was

25 more than 10, but less than 50;
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1 ‘‘(B) 2 representatives where the number

2 of employees is at least 50 but less than 100;

3 and

4 ‘‘(C) an additional employee safety and

5 health representative for each additional 100

6 such employees, up to a maximum of 6 em7 ployee safety and health representatives.

8 ‘‘(3) SELECTION.—The employer’s nonmana9 gerial employees shall select employee safety and

10 health representatives by and from among them11 selves as follows:

12 ‘‘(A) Where none of the employer’s employ13 ees at a worksite are represented by an exclu14 sive bargaining representative, the employees

15 shall select employee safety and health rep16 resentatives.

17 ‘‘(B) Where the employer’s employees are

18 represented by a single exclusive bargaining

19 representative, the bargaining representative

20 shall designate the employee safety and health

21 representatives.

22 ‘‘(C) Where the employer’s employees are

23 represented by more than one exclusive rep24 resentative or where some but not all of the em25 ployees are represented by an exclusive rep-
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1 resentative, each bargaining unit of represented

2 employees (and any residual group of unrepre3 sented employees) shall have a proportionate

4 number of employee safety and health rep5 resentatives based on the number of employees

6 in each bargaining unit or group, except that

7 each such unit or group of 11 or more employ8 ees shall have at least one representative. The

9 selection process shall be conducted in accord10 ance with subparagraph (A) or (B), as applica11 ble.

12 ‘‘(4) Each employee’s right to seek to be an em13 ployee safety and health representative and to other14 wise participate in the selection process without

15 being subject to penalties, discipline, employer inter16 ference, or reprisal of any kind shall be protected.

17 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall, within 1

18 year of the effective date of the Comprehensive Occupa19 tional Safety and Health Reform Act, issue regulations on

20 safety and health committees. Such regulations shall be

21 effective within 18 months of the effective date. Such reg22 ulations shall include provisions on—

23 ‘‘(1) the functioning of committees, including

24 the selection of employee safety and health rep-
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1 resentatives, the terms of employee safety and health

2 representatives, and maintenance of records; and

3 ‘‘(2) the functioning of committees, the method

4 of selection, and the number of employee safety and

5 health representatives—

6 ‘‘(A) where an employer’s employees do not

7 primarily report to or work at a fixed location;

8 ‘‘(B) with regard to worksites with less

9 than 11 employees of a covered employer; and

10 ‘‘(C) where employees of more than 1 em11 ployer are employed.

12 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.—The rights and remedies

13 provided to employees and employee safety and health rep14 resentatives by this section are in addition to, and not in

15 lieu of, any other rights and remedies provided by con16 tract, by other provisions of this Act, or by other applica17 ble law, and are not intended to alter or affect such rights

18 and remedies.

19 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE MECHANISMS FOR EMPLOYEE

20 PARTICIPATION.—Upon application of the employer, the

21 Secretary may approve the establishment of a mechanism

22 for employee participation in safety and health decision

23 making which differs in form from the safety and health

24 committee if the alternative ensures that employees may

25 meaningfully participate in safety and health activities at
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1 the worksite. An application to establish an alternative

2 mechanism for employee participation may not be ap3 proved by the Secretary unless—

4 ‘‘(1) the mechanism for employee participation

5 provides for the free and fair selection of employee

6 participants by and from among the employer’s

7 nonmanagerial employees in a manner that ensures

8 that employees will not be subject to penalties, dis9 cipline, employer interference, or reprisals of any

10 kind;

11 ‘‘(2) the mechanism for employee participation

12 ensures that the rights under subsection (c) may be

13 exercised by the employee participants; and

14 ‘‘(3) the mechanism for employee participation

15 contains such other provisions as the Secretary may

16 require.

17 The Secretary shall not approve an application unless the

18 employer’s nonmanagerial employees have received notice

19 and have been provided at least 60 days in which to com20 ment on the application.

21 ‘‘(h) A safety and health committee established under

22 and operating in conformity with section 28 shall not con23 stitute a labor organization within the meaning of section

24 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act or a representa-
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1 tive within the meaning of section 1, sixth, of the Railway

2 Labor Act.’’.

3 (b) EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN INSPECTIONS.—

4 Section 8(e) (29 U.S.C 657(e)) is amended to read as fol5 lows:

6 ‘‘(e) Subject to regulations issued by the Secretary,

7 a representative of the employer and a designee of the em8 ployee safety and health representatives shall be given an

9 opportunity to accompany the Secretary or the Secretary’s

10 authorized representative during the physical inspection of

11 any workplace under subsection (a) for the purpose of aid12 ing such inspection. Where no employee safety and health

13 representatives have been selected, a representative au14 thorized by an employer’s employees shall be given an op15 portunity to accompany the Secretary in lieu of the des16 ignee of the employee safety and health representative.

17 Where there is no authorized employee representative, the

18 Secretary or the Secretary’s authorized representative

19 shall consult with a reasonable number of employees con20 cerning matters of health and safety in the workplace.’’.

21 TITLE III—COVERAGE

22 SEC. 301. EXTENSION OF COVERAGE TO PUBLIC EMPLOY23 EES.

24 Section 3(5) (29 U.S.C. 652(5) is amended by insert25 ing ‘‘, including any State or political subdivision of a
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1 State’’ after ‘‘who has employees’’ and by striking out ‘‘or

2 any State or political subdivision of a State’’.

3 SEC. 302. CONGRESSIONAL COVERAGE.

4 (a) HOUSE ACTIONS.—The Committee on House Ad5 ministration of the House of Representatives shall estab6 lish and maintain an effective and comprehensive occupa7 tional safety and health program to protect the health and

8 safety of congressional employees (as defined in section

9 2107 of title 5, United States Code, but not including an

10 employee who is paid by the Secretary of the Senate). The

11 program shall provide—

12 (1) for compliance with section 5(a)(1) of the

13 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (re14 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Act’’), the occu15 pational health and safety standards issued under

16 section 6 of the Act, and the regulations issued

17 under section 8 of the Act;

18 (2) for the development of written health and

19 safety programs consistent with section 27 of the

20 Act and the establishment of joint health and safety

21 committees consistent with section 28 of the Act;

22 and

23 (3) for the establishment of an effective en24 forcement mechanism to ensure compliance with the
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1 requirements of the health and safety programs de2 veloped under this section.

3 (4) for the Fair Employment Practices Board

4 of the House of Representatives to establish proce5 dures (consistent with the procedures under section

6 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of

7 1970) for discrimination cases brought under the

8 program.

9 Under the program, if a willful violation of a standard is10 sued under section 6 results in the death or serious bodily

11 injury of an employee, such violation may be referred to

12 the Attorney General for prosecution.

13 (b) COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION.—In

14 connection with the program established under subsection

15 (a), the Committee on House Administration of the House

16 of Representatives shall—

17 (1) acquire, maintain, and require the use of

18 engineering controls, work practice controls, safety

19 equipment, personal protective equipment, and other

20 devices reasonably necessary to protect employees;

21 and

22 (2) employ, as appropriate, individuals qualified

23 by education and experience to identify occupational

24 safety and health hazards and to recommend correc25 tive actions.
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1 (c) RULEMAKING.—The provisions of this section are

2 enacted by the House of Representatives as an exercise

3 of the rulemaking power of the House of Representatives

4 with full recognition of the right of the House to change

5 its rules in the same manner and to the same extent as

6 in the case of any other rule of the House.

7 SEC. 303. APPLICATION OF OSHA TO DOE NUCLEAR FACILI8 TIES.

9 Paragraph (3) of section 4(b) (29 U.S.C. 653(b)(6))

10 is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this sub12 section, this Act shall apply with respect to employment

13 performed in the Federal nuclear facilities under the con14 trol or jurisdiction of the Department of Energy.’’.

15 SEC. 304. EXTENSION OF EMPLOYER DUTIES TO ALL EM16 PLOYEES WORKING AT A PLACE OF EMPLOY17 MENT.

18 Section 5(a)(1) (29 U.S.C. 654(a)(1)) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘each of his employees’’ and in20 serting ‘‘each employee’’; and

21 (2) by striking ‘‘to his employees’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘to employees at the place of employment’’.
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1 TITLE IV—OCCUPATIONAL SAFE2 TY AND HEALTH STANDARDS

3 SEC. 401. TIME FRAMES FOR SETTING STANDARDS.

4 (a) RECOMMENDATIONS AND PETITIONS FOR STAND5 ARDS.—Paragraph (2) of section 6(b) (29 U.S.C.

6 655(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(2)(A) If the Secretary receives—

8 ‘‘(i) a recommendation of an advisory com9 mittee, the Secretary of Health and Human

10 Services, or the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency, or

12 ‘‘(ii) a petition from an interested person

13 which petition sets forth with reasonable par14 ticularity the facts which the person claims es15 tablish that an occupational safety or health

16 standard should be promulgated, modified or

17 revoked,

18 the Secretary shall, within 90 days after receipt of

19 the recommendation or petition, publish in the Fed20 eral Register a response stating whether the Sec21 retary intends to publish a proposed rule promulgat22 ing, modifying or revoking such standard.

23 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary’s response states that the

24 Secretary does not intend to publish a proposed rule,

25 the Secretary shall set forth the reasons for that de-
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1 cision. In all other cases, the Secretary shall, within

2 12 months following the decision, publish in the

3 Federal Register a proposed rule promulgating,

4 modifying, or revoking the standard cited in the pe5 tition or recommendation.’’.

6 (b) PROCEDURE FOR COMMENT AND HEARING.—

7 Paragraph (3) of section 6(b) (29 U.S.C. 655(b)(3)) is

8 amended—

9 (1) by designating the present language as sub10 paragraph (B) and by striking out ‘‘under para11 graph (2)’’; and

12 (2) by inserting at the beginning the following:

13 ‘‘(3)(A) When information developed by the

14 Secretary or submitted to the Secretary indicates

15 that a rule should be proposed promulgating, modi16 fying, or revoking an occupational safety or health

17 standard, the Secretary shall publish such a pro18 posed rule in the Federal Register and shall afford

19 interested persons a period of at least 30 days after

20 publication to submit written data or comments.’’.

21 (c) TIME FRAME FOR ISSUING RULES.—Section

22 6(b)(4) (29 U.S.C. 655(b)(4)) is amended by striking

23 ‘‘Within’’ and all that follows through ‘‘paragraph (3)’’

24 and inserting ‘‘Within 18 months following publication of

25 a proposed rule under paragraph (2)(B)’’.
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1 (d) REVIEW OF SECRETARY’S FAILURE OR REFUSAL

2 TO ISSUE RULES.—Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 655) is amended

3 by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(h)(1) Any person who may be adversely affected by

5 a determination by the Secretary under subsection (b)(2)

6 not to propose a rule promulgating, modifying, or revoking

7 a standard may at any time prior to the sixtieth day after

8 such determination is published in the Federal Register

9 file a petition seeking review of such determination with

10 the United States court of appeals for the circuit wherein

11 such person resides or such person has a principal place

12 of business. A copy of the petition shall be forthwith trans13 mitted by the clerk of the court to the Secretary. The Sec14 retary’s determination shall be set aside if found to be ar15 bitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not

16 in accordance with law.

17 ‘‘(2) Any person who may be adversely affected by

18 a failure of the Secretary to take any action required by

19 this section within the time period prescribed therefor by

20 this section may at any time after such period of time has

21 elapsed file a petition for review stating that such action

22 has been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed.

23 Such petition may be filed with the United States court

24 of appeals for the circuit wherein such person resides or

25 such person has a principal place of business. A copy of
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1 the petition shall be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of

2 the court to the Secretary. The reviewing court shall com3 pel the Secretary to take any action that is found to have

4 been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed. The

5 Secretary’s desire to confer with, or to receive approval

6 from any other Federal agency or Federal executive offi7 cial, shall not justify the withholding or delaying of action

8 by the Secretary, except where such consultation or solici9 tation of approval is required by statute and has been pur10 sued in a timely fashion.’’.

11 (e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 6(f) (29 U.S.C.

12 655(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘The procedures of this subsection shall be the exclusive

14 means of challenging the validity of any occupational safe15 ty and health standard and the validity of any such stand16 ard may not be raised in an enforcement action under sec17 tion 10 or 11.’’.

18 SEC. 402. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARD.

19 Section 3(8) (29 U.S.C. 652(8)) is amended to read

20 as follows:

21 ‘‘(8) The term ‘occupational safety and health

22 standard’ means a standard which addresses a sig23 nificant risk to the safety or health of employees by

24 requiring conditions, or the adoption or use of one

25 or more practices, means, methods, operations, or
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1 processes that most adequately assure, to the extent

2 feasible, safe and healthful employment and places

3 of employment. For purposes of this paragraph, the

4 term ‘significant risk’ means a risk from an occupa5 tional safety or health hazard which may be reason6 ably anticipated to cause material impairment of

7 health or functional capacity to employees exposed

8 to such safety or health hazard. A risk shall not be

9 considered significant—

10 ‘‘(A) in the case of a toxic substance or

11 harmful physical agent that may cause cancer,

12 if the risk resulting from employee exposure to

13 such substance or agent does not exceed one in

14 a million (as determined by conservative risk

15 assessment models), or

16 ‘‘(B) in the case of an occupational safety

17 or health hazard other than a potential carcino18 gen, if a condition, practice, or exposure is not

19 reasonably anticipated to cause material impair20 ment of health or functional capacity to employ21 ees exposed to such hazard, taking into account

22 an ample margin of safety.’’.

23 SEC. 403. RECORDING OF ADVERSE MEDICAL CONDITION.

24 Section 6(b)(7) (29 U.S.C. 655(b)(7)) is amended by

25 inserting after the third sentence the following: ‘‘The
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1 standard shall also prescribe requirements for recording

2 or reporting work-related adverse medical conditions de3 termined as a result of medical examinations or tests con4 ducted under the standard.’’.

5 SEC. 404. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF ALL COMMUNICATIONS

6 ON STANDARDS.

7 Section 6(b) (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(9) The Secretary shall place all written com10 ments and communications and a summary of all

11 verbal communications with parties outside the De12 partment of Labor (including communications with

13 executive branch officials but not including commu14 nications with the President) regarding the promul15 gation, modification, or revocation of a standard

16 under this section in the public record within 10

17 working days of the receipt of such communica18 tions.’’.

19 SEC. 405. REVISION OF PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMITS.

20 Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 655) (as amended by section

21 401(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(i) In addition to other health and safety standards

23 promulgated under subsection (b), the Secretary shall, in

24 cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human

25 Services, modify and establish exposure limits for toxic
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1 materials and harmful physical agents on a regular basis

2 in the following manner and in accordance with the re3 quirements of subsection (b)(5):

4 ‘‘(1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv5 ices, acting through the National Institute for Occu6 pational Safety and Health, shall regularly evaluate

7 available scientific evidence, data, and information to

8 determine if exposure limits for toxic materials and

9 harmful physical agents promulgated under sub10 sections (a) and (b) should be modified or if an ex11 posure limit should be established to protect exposed

12 employees from material impairment of health or

13 functional capacity. Such evaluation shall include a

14 review of the scientific literature, standards of pri15 vate and professional organizations, national consen16 sus standards, standards adopted by other countries,

17 recommendations of State and Federal agencies, and

18 consideration of whether such toxic materials and

19 harmful physical agents pose a significant risk to

20 employee health or safety.

21 ‘‘(2) At least every 3 years the Secretary of

22 Health and Human Services, acting through the Na23 tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,

24 shall, on the basis of the evaluation under paragraph

25 (1), develop and shall transmit to the Secretary rec-
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1 ommendations identifying toxic materials and harm2 ful physical agents, if any, for which exposure limits

3 should be modified or established to protect employ4 ees from material impairment of health or functional

5 capacity. For each such material or agent, the rec6 ommendation shall include a suggested permissible

7 exposure limit, the basis for the suggested exposure

8 limit, and, where available, information on feasible

9 control measures.

10 ‘‘(3) Within 30 days of receipt of recommenda11 tions under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall pub12 lish the recommendations on exposure limits in the

13 Federal Register and provide a period of 30 days for

14 public comment. The Secretary shall evaluate the

15 recommendations and public comments and, within

16 6 months of the receipt of the recommendations, the

17 Secretary shall publish a proposed rule to modify,

18 maintain, or establish exposure limits for each toxic

19 material and harmful physical agent for which the

20 Secretary of Health and Human Services has rec21 ommended that such limit should be modified or es22 tablished. If a proposed exposure limit is not the

23 same as the exposure limit recommended by the Sec24 retary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary
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1 shall explain why the recommended limit is not being

2 proposed.

3 ‘‘(4) Within one year of the publication of the

4 proposed exposure limits under paragraph (3), the

5 Secretary shall issue a final standard, which stand6 ard shall be subject to the requirements of sub7 section (b)(5). If a final exposure limit is not the

8 same as the exposure limits recommended by the

9 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec10 retary shall explain why the recommended exposure

11 limit is not being adopted.

12 ‘‘(5) In addition to the periodic review of per13 missible exposure limits required by paragraph (1),

14 the Secretary shall also establish or modify exposure

15 limits for toxic materials and harmful physical

16 agents whenever such action is warranted, pursuant

17 to subsections (b)(5) and (g).’’.

18 SEC. 406. EXPOSURE MONITORING AND HEALTH SURVEIL19 LANCE.

20 Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 655) (as amended by section

21 405) is amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(j) Within two years after the effective date of the

23 Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform

24 Act, the Secretary shall promulgate final standards on ex-
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1 posure monitoring and health surveillance programs in the

2 following manner and in accordance with subsection (b).

3 ‘‘(1) The standard on exposure monitoring shall

4 include the following:

5 ‘‘(A) Requirements for a formal exposure

6 assessment where workers may be exposed to

7 toxic materials or harmful physical agents

8 which are subject to standards issued under

9 this section, including toxic materials or harm10 ful physical agents.

11 ‘‘(B) Requirements for regular monitoring

12 and measurement of toxic materials or harmful

13 physical agents for which an exposure limit has

14 been established by the Secretary or adopted by

15 the employer if such monitoring and measure16 ments will assist in protecting the health and

17 safety of workers exposed to such toxic mate18 rials or harmful physical agents.

19 ‘‘(C) Requirements for a written compli20 ance plan for reducing exposures where expo21 sures are determined to exceed limits estab22 lished by the Secretary or adopted by the em23 ployer.

24 ‘‘(D) Requirements for employees to be no25 tified in writing of exposures to toxic materials
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1 or harmful physical agents above exposure lim2 its established by the Secretary or adopted by

3 the employer and the steps the employer is tak4 ing to reduce such exposures.

5 ‘‘(E) Requirements for maintenance and

6 access to records of exposure to toxic materials

7 or harmful physical agents.

8 ‘‘(2) The standard on health surveillance pro9 grams shall include the following:

10 ‘‘(A) Requirements for an evaluation of

11 employee exposure assessments and exposure

12 monitoring to identify which employees may be

13 at risk of material impairment of health or

14 functional capacity due to exposure to toxic ma15 terials or harmful physical agents.

16 ‘‘(B) Requirements for periodic medical ex17 aminations for employees identified to be at

18 risk of material impairment of health or func19 tional capacity due to exposure to toxic mate20 rials or harmful physical agents where such ex21 aminations are appropriate to identify or to

22 prevent material impairment of health or func23 tional capacity.

24 ‘‘(C) Requirements for the evaluation of

25 the results of medical examinations to deter-
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1 mine if an employee or a group of employees

2 are exhibiting indications of present or potential

3 material impairment of health or functional ca4 pacity due to exposure to toxic substances or

5 harmful physical agents.

6 ‘‘(D) Requirements for the notification of

7 employees of the results of medical examina8 tions in a manner that is understood by the em9 ployees.

10 ‘‘(E) Provisions setting forth the qualifica11 tions for health care providers who may conduct

12 required medical examinations. Where feasible,

13 the Secretary in cooperation with the Secretary

14 of Health and Human Services shall establish

15 criteria and procedures for the certification of

16 health care providers who conduct medical ex17 aminations.

18 ‘‘(F) Provisions to assure the confidential19 ity of personally identifiable medical informa20 tion.

21 ‘‘(G) Provisions to prohibit discrimination

22 against employees based on the results of medi23 cal examinations, and as appropriate provisions

24 to provide protection of the wages, benefits, and

25 other terms and conditions of employment of
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1 employees who are transferred or removed from

2 their jobs due to the result of medical examina3 tions.

4 ‘‘(H) Records developed under this sub5 section shall be maintained and made available

6 according to regulations published at 29 CFR

7 1910.20.’’.

8 SEC. 407. STANDARD ON ERGONOMIC HAZARDS.

9 Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 655) (as amended by section

10 406) is amended by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(k) Within 2 years of the effective date of the Com12 prehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act,

13 the Secretary shall issue a final standard on ergonomic

14 hazards to protect employees from work-related musculo15 skeletal disorders in accordance with subsection (b)(5).

16 The standard shall include the following:

17 ‘‘(1) Requirements for an ergonomics program

18 where employees are exposed to ergonomic hazards

19 which requirements shall include provisions for haz20 ard identification, control measures, medical man21 agement, training and education, and employee par22 ticipation.

23 ‘‘(2) Requirements for an evaluation of job

24 processes, work station design, rate of work, and

25 work methods to identify ergonomic risk factors that
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1 cause or are likely to cause musculoskeletal dis2 orders.

3 ‘‘(3) Requirements for control measures to re4 duce stressors and musculoskeletal disorders, includ5 ing engineering controls, new equipment, or work or6 ganization controls.

7 ‘‘(4) Requirements for an effective medical

8 management program for musculoskeletal disorders,

9 including requirements for qualified health care pro10 viders, health surveillance, appropriate diagnosis,

11 treatment, and follow up.

12 ‘‘(5) Requirements for recording musculo13 skeletal disorders as an illness and reporting such

14 illnesses to the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(6) Requirements for training and education

16 of employees exposed to ergonomic hazards on

17 ergonomic risk factors, control measures, and the

18 employer’s medical management program.

19 ‘‘(7) Requirements for employee participation in

20 the establishment and implementation of the employ21 er’s ergonomic program through any safety and

22 health committee established under section 28.’’.

23 SEC. 408. EMERGENCY TEMPORARY STANDARD.

24 Section 6(c) (29 U.S.C. 655(c)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘if he deter2 mines’’ and inserting ‘‘if the Secretary determines

3 on the basis of the best available evidence’’; and

4 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘six months’’

5 and inserting ‘‘18 months’’.

6 SEC. 409. AIR CONTAMINANTS.

7 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, The Secretary of Labor shall issue an

9 interim final regulation reducing permissible exposure lim10 its to toxic substances. Such interim final regulation shall

11 include and place into effect—

12 (1) the final rule on air contaminants published

13 at 54 Federal Register 2332 (January 19, 1989),

14 and

15 (2) the proposed rule on air contaminants for

16 construction, agriculture, and maritime published at

17 57 Federal Register 26001 (June 12, 1992).

18 Such interim final regulation shall take effect upon its is19 suance (except that such regulation may include a reason20 able delay in the effective date of specific provisions) and

21 shall have the legal effect of an occupational safety and

22 health standard issued under section 6 of the Occupational

23 Safety and Health Act of 1970.
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1 TITLE V—ENFORCEMENT

2 SEC. 501. NO LOSS OF EMPLOYEE PAY FOR INSPECTIONS.

3 Section 8(e) (29 U.S.C. 657(e)) (as amended by sec4 tion 201(b)) is amended by inserting after the first sen5 tence the following: ‘‘Time spent by an employee on any

6 such inspection shall be deemed to be hours worked and

7 no employee shall suffer any loss of wages, benefits, and

8 other terms and conditions of employment for having par9 ticipated in the inspection.’’.

10 SEC. 502. TIME FRAME FOR RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS.

11 The last sentence of section 8(f)(1) (29 U.S.C.

12 657(f)(1)) is amended by inserting before the period the

13 following: ‘‘within 30 days of receipt of the request for

14 inspection’’.

15 SEC. 503. COMPLAINTS.

16 Section (8)(f)(1) (29 U.S.C. 657(f)(1)) is amended—

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘the Act or’’ after ‘‘a violation

18 of’’;

19 (2) in the second sentence, by striking out ‘‘Any

20 such notice’’ through ‘‘and a copy shall be provided’’

21 and inserting in lieu thereof the following: ‘‘Any

22 such notice shall set forth with reasonable particu23 larity the grounds for the notice, and a copy of the

24 notice if written or a summary of the notice if oral

25 shall be provided’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘The

2 Secretary shall make a special inspection in accord3 ance with this section upon notification from any

4 Federal or State agency that there are reasonable

5 grounds to believe that a violation of this Act or

6 safety and health standard under section 6 exists

7 that threatens physical harm.’’.

8 SEC. 504. MANDATORY SPECIAL EMPHASIS.

9 Section 8 (29 U.S.C. 657) is amended by adding at

10 the end the following:

11 ‘‘(h)(1) The Secretary shall establish and carry out

12 a special emphasis inspection program for conducting in13 spections of industries or operations where—

14 ‘‘(A) existing hazards, or

15 ‘‘(B) newly recognized or new hazards intro16 duced into worksites,

17 warrant more intensive than normal inspections, as deter18 mined by the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall annually designate the in20 dustries and operations for the special emphasis inspection

21 program and identify the number of special emphasis in22 spections that the Secretary plans to conduct in each des23 ignated industry and operation and the number of enforce24 ment personnel required for such inspections.
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1 ‘‘(3) Inspections conducted under paragraph (1) shall

2 be in addition to other programmed and complaint inspec3 tions conducted under this Act.

4 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall annually submit a report to

5 the Congress on the special emphasis inspection program

6 as part of the Secretary’s annual report required under

7 section 26 which includes information on inspections con8 ducted pursuant to paragraph (2) which were carried out

9 during the preceding year.’’.

10 SEC. 505. INVESTIGATIONS OF DEATHS AND SERIOUS INCI11 DENTS.

12 Section 8 (29 U.S.C. 657) (as amended by section

13 504) is amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(i)(1) The Secretary shall investigate any work-re15 lated death or serious incident.

16 ‘‘(2) If a death or serious incident occurs in a place

17 of employment covered by this Act, the employer shall no18 tify the Secretary of the death or serious incident and shall

19 take appropriate measures to prevent the destruction or

20 alteration of any evidence that would assist in investigat21 ing the death or serious incident. The appropriate meas22 ures required by this paragraph do not prevent an em23 ployer from taking action on a worksite to prevent injury

24 to employees or substantial damage to property. If an em-
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1 ployer takes such action, the employer shall notify the Sec2 retary of the action in a timely fashion.

3 ‘‘(3) As used in this subsection, the term ‘serious in4 cident’ means an incident that results in the hospitaliza5 tion of 2 or more employees.’’.

6 SEC. 506. ABATEMENT OF SERIOUS HAZARDS DURING EM7 PLOYER CONTESTS TO A CITATION.

8 (a) CITATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT.—Section 10 (29

9 U.S.C. 659) is amended as follows:

10 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting after ‘‘which

11 period’’ the following: ‘‘for other than serious viola12 tions’’;

13 (2) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(d) For each violation which the Secretary charac15 terizes as serious, willful, or repeated, the period permitted

16 for the correction of the violation shall begin to run upon

17 receipt of the citation. The filling of a notice of contest

18 by an employer shall not operate as a stay of the period

19 for correction of the violation. In cases where the failure

20 to stay the period for correction of the violation may pose

21 an undue hardship for an employer, the Commission, on

22 the basis of an employer’s motion, may stay the running

23 of such period while proceedings before the Commission

24 are pending. In determining whether a stay should be is25 sued, the Commission shall consider—
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1 ‘‘(1) whether the employer has demonstrated a

2 likelihood of success on the merits;

3 ‘‘(2) whether the employer will suffer irrep4 arable harm absent a stay;

5 ‘‘(3) whether issuance of the stay will substan6 tially injure the other parties interested in the pro7 ceeding; and

8 ‘‘(4) the public interest.’’.

9 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 17(d) (29 U.S.C. 666(d))

10 is amended by inserting after ‘‘which period’’ the follow11 ing: ‘‘for other than serious violations’’.

12 (c) EMPLOYER CONTEST.—Section 10(c) (29 U.S.C

13 659) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the

14 following: ‘‘The pendence of a contest before the Commis15 sion shall not bar the Secretary from inspecting a place

16 of employment or from issuing a citation under section

17 9.’’.

18 (d) STATUTE OF LIMITATION.—Section 9(c) (29

19 U.S.C 658(c)) is amended by adding at the end the follow20 ing: ‘‘The six month time limit shall not apply to a notifi21 cation of penalty.’’.

22 (e) VERIFICATION OF ABATEMENT.—Section 10 (as

23 amended by subsection (a)) is amended by adding at the

24 end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘(e) Each employer to whom a citation for a serious,

2 willful or repeated violation has been issued under section

3 9 shall verify the abatement of such violation in writing

4 to the Secretary not later than 30 days after the period

5 for correction of the violation has expired. Such verifica6 tion shall include appropriate documentary evidence of

7 abatement. In addition, each such employer shall promi8 nently post, within 10 days after the verification of abate9 ment, at or near each place a violation occurred a notice

10 that the violation has been abated, and shall make avail11 able to employees and employee representatives for inspec12 tion a copy of the verification of abatement provided to

13 the Secretary pursuant to this subsection. The Secretary

14 shall issue regulations to implement this subsection within

15 one year of the date of the enactment of the Comprehen16 sive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act.’’.

17 SEC. 507. RIGHT TO CONTEST CITATIONS AND PENALTIES.

18 The first sentence of section 10(c) (29 U.S.C. 659(c))

19 is amended by—

20 (1) inserting after ‘‘9(a)’’ the second time it ap21 pears the following: ‘‘or a modification of a cita22 tion’’, and

23 (2) inserting after ‘‘files a notice with the Sec24 retary’’ the following: ‘‘alleging that the citation fails

25 properly to designate the violation as serious, willful,
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1 or repeated, or that the proposed penalty is not ade2 quate, or’’.

3 SEC. 508. RIGHT OF EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES TO PAR4 TICIPATE IN OTHER PROCEEDINGS.

5 The last sentence of section 10(c) (29 U.S.C. 659(c))

6 is amended by striking out ‘‘hearings’’ and inserting in

7 lieu thereof ‘‘proceedings’’.

8 SEC. 509. OBJECTIONS TO MODIFICATION OF CITATIONS.

9 Section 10 (29 U.S.C. 659) (as amended by section

10 506(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(f)(1) If the Secretary intends to withdraw or to

12 modify a citation as a result of any agreement with the

13 cited employer, the rules of procedure prescribed by the

14 Commission shall provide for prompt notice to affected

15 employees or representatives of affected employees, which

16 notice shall include the terms of the proposed agreement.

17 ‘‘(2) Within 15 working days of receipt of the notice

18 provided in accordance with paragraph (1), any employee

19 or representative of employees, regardless of whether such

20 employee or representative has previously elected to par21 ticipate in the proceedings, shall have the right to file a

22 notice with the Secretary alleging that the proposed agree23 ment fails to effectuate the purposes of this Act and stat24 ing the respects in which it fails to do so.
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1 ‘‘(3) Upon receipt of a notice filed under paragraph

2 (2), the Secretary shall consider the matter, and if the

3 Secretary determines to proceed with the proposed agree4 ment, the Secretary shall respond with particularity to the

5 statements presented in that notice.

6 ‘‘(4) Within 15 working days following the Sec7 retary’s response provided pursuant to paragraph (3), the

8 employee or representative of employees shall, upon a re9 quest to the Commission, have the right to a hearing as

10 to whether adoption of the proposed agreement would ef11 fectuate the purposes of this Act, including a determina12 tion as to whether the proposed agreement would ade13 quately abate the alleged violations.

14 ‘‘(5) If the Commission determines that a proposed

15 agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of this Act, the

16 proposed agreement shall not be entered as an order of

17 the Commission and the citation shall not be withdrawn

18 or modified in accordance with the proposed agreement.’’.

19 SEC. 510. IMMINENT DANGER INSPECTIONS.

20 (a) SPECIAL CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES.—Section

21 13 (29 U.S.C. 662) is amended—

22 (1) by striking out subsection (c), by redesig23 nating subsections (a) and (b) as subsections (b)

24 and (c), respectively, and by inserting before sub25 section (b) (as so redesignated) the following:
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1 ‘‘(a)(1) If the Secretary determines, on the basis of

2 an inspection or investigation under this section, that a

3 condition or practice in a place of employment is such that

4 an imminent danger to safety or health exists that could

5 reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical

6 harm or permanent impairment of the health or functional

7 capacity of employees if not corrected immediately, the

8 Secretary shall so inform the employer and affected em9 ployees and shall request that the condition or practice

10 be corrected immediately or that employees be imme11 diately removed from exposure to such danger.

12 ‘‘(2) If the employer refuses to comply with the re13 quest under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall imme14 diately cause notice to be posted in the workplace identify15 ing the equipment, process, or practice that is the source

16 of the imminent danger. Such notice shall take the form

17 of a tag or other device that will be seen by employees

18 who might otherwise be exposed to the dangerous equip19 ment, process, or practice. The notice shall be removed

20 only by the Secretary.

21 ‘‘(3) The fact that notice under paragraph (2) has

22 been posted shall be noted in any citation issued pursuant

23 to section 9 with respect to the hazard involved.

24 ‘‘(4) No person shall discharge or in any manner dis25 criminate against any employee because such employee
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1 has refused to perform a duty that has been identified as

2 the source of an imminent danger by a notice posted pur3 suant to paragraph (2). The right to refuse to perform

4 such a duty shall be in addition to any other right to

5 refuse to perform hazardous work that is afforded to em6 ployees by this Act, by standards or regulations issued

7 pursuant to this Act, by contract, or by other applicable

8 law.’’; and

9 (2) by amending the first sentence of subsection

10 (b) (as so redesignated) to read as follows: ‘‘The

11 United States district courts shall have jurisdiction,

12 upon petition of the Secretary, to restrain any condi13 tions or practices in any place of employment which

14 pose an imminent danger as described in subsection

15 (a).’’.

16 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 17 is amended by redesig17 nating subsections (h) through (l) as subsections (i)

18 through (m), respectively, and by inserting after sub19 section (g) the following:

20 ‘‘(h) In the event that an employer does not imme21 diately correct the hazard referenced in a notice posted

22 under section 13(a)(2) or remove all employees from expo23 sure thereto, the employer shall be assessed a civil penalty

24 of not less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000 for

25 each day during which an employee continues to be ex-
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1 posed to the hazard unless the Commission determines the

2 condition or practice is not of such nature as to be covered

3 by section 13(a).’’.

4 SEC. 511. CITATIONS AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.

5 (a) CITATIONS.—Section 9(a) is amended by insert6 ing ‘‘, 27 or 28’’ after ‘‘section 5’’.

7 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 17 is amended—

8 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘, 27, 28, or

9 30’’ after ‘‘section 5’’,

10 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, 27, 28, or

11 30’’ after ‘‘section 5’’, and

12 (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘, 27, 28, or

13 30’’ after ‘‘section 5’’.

14 SEC. 512. OSHA CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17 (29 U.S.C. 666) (as

16 amended by section 510(b)) is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (e)—

18 (A) by inserting after ‘‘employer’’ the fol19 lowing: ‘‘and every officer, management official,

20 or supervisor having direction, management,

21 control, or custody of any place of employment

22 of such employee’’;

23 (B) by striking out ‘‘fine of not more than

24 $10,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘fine in
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1 accordance with section 3571 of title 18, United

2 States Code,’’;

3 (C) by striking out ‘‘six months’’ and in4 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘10 years’’;

5 (D) by striking out ‘‘fine of not more than

6 $20,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘fine in

7 accordance with section 3571 of title 18, United

8 States Code,’’; and

9 (E) by striking out ‘‘one year’’ and insert10 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘20 years’’;

11 (2) in subsection (f), by striking out ‘‘fine of

12 not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not

13 more than six months,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

14 ‘‘fine in accordance with section 3571 of title 18,

15 United States Code, or by imprisonment for not

16 more than 2 years,’’;

17 (3) in subsection (g), by striking out ‘‘fine of

18 not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not

19 more than six months,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

20 ‘‘fine in accordance with section 3571 of title 18,

21 United States Code, or by imprisonment for not

22 more than 1 year,’’;

23 (4) by redesignating subsections (i) through

24 (m) as subsections (j) through (n), respectively;
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1 (5) by inserting after subsection (h) the follow2 ing:

3 ‘‘(i) Any employer and any officer, management offi4 cial, or supervisor having direction, management, control,

5 or custody of any place of employment who willfully vio6 lates any standard, rule, or order promulgated pursuant

7 to section 6, or any regulation prescribed pursuant to this

8 Act, and that violation causes serious bodily injury to any

9 employee but does not cause death to any employee, shall,

10 upon conviction, be punished by a fine in accordance with

11 section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or by impris12 onment for not more than 5 years, or by both, except that

13 if the conviction is for a violation committed after a first

14 conviction of such person under this subsection or sub15 section (e), punishment shall be by a fine in accordance

16 with section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or by

17 imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or by both.’’;

18 and

19 (6) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(o) If a penalty or fine is imposed on a director,

21 officer, or agent of an employer under subsection (e), (f),

22 (g), or (i), such penalty or fine shall not be paid out of

23 the assets of the employer on behalf of that individual.’’.

24 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 3 (29 U.S.C. 652) is

25 amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(15) The term ‘serious bodily injury’ means

2 bodily injury that involves—

3 ‘‘(A) a substantial risk of death;

4 ‘‘(B) protracted unconsciousness;

5 ‘‘(C) protracted and obvious physical dis6 figurement; or

7 ‘‘(D) protracted loss or impairment of the

8 function of a bodily member, organ, or mental

9 faculty.’’.

10 (c) JURISDICTION FOR PROSECUTION UNDER STATE

11 AND LOCAL CRIMINAL LAWS.—Section 17 (29 U.S.C.

12 666) (as amended by subsection (a) of this section) is

13 amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(p) Nothing in this Act shall preclude State and

15 local law enforcement agencies from conducting criminal

16 prosecutions in accordance with the laws of such State or

17 locality.’’.

18 SEC. 513. COMMISSION MEMBER’S TERMS.

19 Section 12(b) (29 U.S.C. 661(b)) is amended by add20 ing after the first sentence the following: ‘‘A member of

21 the Commission may serve after the expiration of the

22 member’s term until a successor has taken office.’’.

23 SEC. 514. INSPECTIONS.

24 Section 8(a) (29 U.S.C. 657(a)) is amended by add25 ing after and below paragraph (2) the following: ‘‘In car-
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1 rying out the inspection authority under this section, the

2 Secretary shall establish an effective system for targeting

3 inspections of worksites, especially worksites with a high

4 potential for death, serious injury, or exposure to toxic

5 materials or harmful physical agents and shall establish

6 priorities for such inspections to ensure that enforcement

7 activities are concentrated on such worksites.’’.

8 SEC. 515. EMPLOYEE ACCOUNTABILITY.

9 Section 9 (29 U.S.C. 658) is amended by adding at

10 the end the following:

11 ‘‘(d) A citation issued under subsection (a) to an em12 ployer who violates the requirements of section 5, any

13 standard, rule, or order promulgated pursuant to section

14 6, or any other regulation promulgated under this Act

15 shall be vacated if such employer demonstrates that—

16 ‘‘(1) employees of such employer have been pro17 vided with the proper training and equipment to pre18 vent such a violation;

19 ‘‘(2) work rules designed to prevent such a vio20 lation have been established and adequately commu21 nicated to employees by such employer and have

22 been effectively enforced when such a violation has

23 been discovered;

24 ‘‘(3) the failure of employees to observe work

25 rules led to the violation; and
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1 ‘‘(4) reasonable steps have been taken by such

2 employer to discover any such violation.’’.

3 SEC. 516. SERIOUS PENALTY.

4 Section 17(b) (29 U.S.C. 656(b)) is amended by in5 serting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’ and by adding at the end the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(2) The minimum penalty for a violation described

8 in paragraph (1) shall be at least $1,000. The amount

9 of any such increased penalty collected by the Secretary

10 (beyond fiscal year 1992 penalty collection levels) shall be

11 credited as an offsetting collection to the appropriation ac12 count of the Secretary for expenses for the administration

13 of this Act and shall remain available to the Secretary

14 until expended.’’.

15 TITLE VI—PROTECTION OF EM16 PLOYEES FROM DISCRIMINA17 TION

18 SEC. 601. ANTIDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS.

19 (a) EMPLOYEE ACTIONS.—Section 11(c)(1) (29

20 U.S.C. 660(c)(1)) is amended by adding before the period

21 at the end the following: ‘‘including reporting any injury,

22 illness or unsafe condition to the employer, agent of the

23 employer, the safety and health committee, or employee

24 safety and health representative’’
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1 (b) PROCEDURE.—Section 11(c) (29 U.S.C. 660(c)

2 is amended by striking out paragraphs (2) and (3) and

3 inserting in lieu thereof the following:

4 ‘‘(2) No person shall discharge or in any manner dis5 criminate against an employee for refusing to perform the

6 employee’s duties when the employee has a reasonable ap7 prehension that performing such duties would result in se8 rious injury to the employee or other employees. The cir9 cumstances causing the employee’s apprehension of seri10 ous injury must be of such a nature that a reasonable per11 son, under the circumstances then confronting the em12 ployee would conclude that there is a bona fide danger

13 of an injury or serious impairment of health resulting from

14 the circumstances. In order to qualify for protection, the

15 employee, when practicable, must have sought from his

16 employer, and have been unable to obtain, correction of

17 the circumstances causing the refusal to perform the em18 ployee’s duties.

19 ‘‘(3) Any employee who believes that the employee

20 has been discharged, disciplined, or otherwise discrimi21 nated against by any person in violation of paragraph (1)

22 or (2) may, within 180 days after such alleged violation

23 occurs, file (or have filed by any person on the employee’s

24 behalf) a complaint with the Secretary alleging such dis25 charge, discipline, or discrimination violates paragraph (1)
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1 or (2). Upon receipt of such a complaint, the Secretary

2 shall notify the person named in the complaint of the filing

3 of the complaint.

4 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) Within 60 days of receipt of a complaint

5 filed under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall conduct an

6 investigation and determine whether there is reasonable

7 cause to believe that the complaint has merit. During the

8 investigation, the Secretary shall notify the respondent to

9 the complaint of the charges made in the complaint, shall

10 provide the respondent with an opportunity to meet the

11 investigator conducting the investigation, to submit a re12 sponse to such charges, and to present witnesses to rebut

13 such charges. The Secretary shall also consider the result

14 of any collectively bargained grievance proceeding which

15 may have been held with respect to such charges. Upon

16 completion of the investigation, the Secretary shall notify

17 the complainant and the respondent to the complaint of

18 the Secretary’s findings. Where the Secretary has con19 cluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that a vio20 lation has occurred, the Secretary’s findings shall be ac21 companied by a preliminary order providing the relief pre22 scribed by subparagraph (B).

23 ‘‘(ii) After the Secretary has made findings either the

24 person alleged to have committed the violation or the com25 plainant may, within 30 days, file objections to the find-
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1 ings or preliminary order, or both, and request a hearing

2 on the record, except that the filing of such objections

3 shall not operate to stay any reinstatement remedy con4 tained in the preliminary order. If the Secretary does not

5 issue findings with respect to a complaint within 90 days

6 of the receipt of the complaint, the complainant may re7 quest a hearing on the record on the complaint.

8 ‘‘(iii) A hearing requested under clause (ii) shall be

9 expeditiously conducted. Where a hearing is not timely re10 quested, the preliminary order shall be deemed a final

11 order which is not subject to judicial review. Upon the con12 clusion of such hearing, the Secretary shall issue a final

13 order within 120 days. In the interim, such proceedings

14 may be terminated at any time on the basis of a settlement

15 agreement entered into by the Secretary, the complainant,

16 and the person alleged to have committed the violation.

17 ‘‘(B) If, in response to a complaint filed under para18 graph (3), the Secretary determines that a violation of

19 paragraphs (1) or (2) has occurred, the Secretary shall

20 order—

21 ‘‘(i) the person who committed such violation to

22 correct the violation,

23 ‘‘(ii) such person to reinstate the complainant

24 to the complainant’s former position together with

25 the compensation (including back pay), terms, condi-
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1 tions, and privileges of the complainant’s employ2 ment, and

3 ‘‘(iii) compensatory damages.

4 If such an order is issued, the Secretary, at the request

5 of the complainant, may assess against the person against

6 whom the order is issued a sum equal to the aggregate

7 amount of all costs and expenses (including attorney’s

8 fees) reasonably incurred, as determined by the Secretary,

9 by the complainant for, or in connection with, the bringing

10 of the complaint upon which the order was issued.

11 ‘‘(5)(A) Any person adversely affected or aggrieved

12 by an order issued after a hearing under paragraph (4)(A)

13 may obtain review of the order in the United States Court

14 of Appeals for the circuit in which the violation, with re15 spect to which the order was issued, allegedly occurred,

16 or the circuit in which such person resided on the date

17 of such violation. The petition for review must be filed

18 within 60 days from the issuance of the Secretary’s order.

19 Such review shall be in accordance with the provisions of

20 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be

21 heard and decided expeditiously.

22 ‘‘(B) Whenever a person has failed to comply with

23 an order issued under paragraph (4)(A), the Secretary

24 shall file a civil action in the United States district court

25 for the district in which the violation was found to occur
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1 in order to enforce such order. In actions brought under

2 this subparagraph, the district court shall have jurisdic3 tion to grant all appropriate relief, including injunctive re4 lief, reinstatement, and compensatory damages.

5 ‘‘(6) In determining whether a violation of paragraph

6 (1) or (2) has occurred, the legal burdens of proof are

7 as follows:

8 ‘‘(A) A violation of paragraph (1) or (2) may

9 be determined to have occurred only if the complain10 ant demonstrates that the exercise of a right pro11 tected by such paragraph was a contributing factor

12 in the discharge or discrimination alleged in the

13 complaint.

14 ‘‘(B) Relief may not be ordered if the employer

15 named in the complaint demonstrates by clear and

16 convincing evidence that the employer would have

17 taken the same unfavorable action against the com18 plainant in the absence of the complainant’s exercise

19 of such protected rights.’’.

20 SEC. 602. POSTING OF EMPLOYEE RIGHTS.

21 Section 8(c)(1) (29 U.S.C. 657(c)(1)) is amended by

22 adding at the end the following: ‘‘Such regulations shall

23 include provisions requiring employers to post for employ24 ees the protections afforded under section 11(c).’’.
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1 TITLE VII—TECHNICAL

2 ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING

3 SEC. 701. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO EMPLOYERS AND EM4 PLOYEES.

5 Section 7 (29 U.S.C. 656) is amended by adding at

6 the end the following:

7 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall develop and disseminate,

8 directly or by grant or contract, training curricula, model

9 programs, and other information and materials designed

10 to assist employers in complying with—

11 ‘‘(A) the requirements for safety and health

12 programs and employee safety and health training

13 and education under section 27,

14 ‘‘(B) the requirements for safety and health

15 committees under section 28,

16 ‘‘(C) the requirements of section 5, including

17 the requirements of standards issued under section

18 6, and

19 ‘‘(D) other requirements of this Act.

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall establish and implement a

21 program to provide technical assistance and consultative

22 services for employers and employees, either directly or by

23 grant or contract, concerning worksite safety and health

24 and compliance with this Act. Such assistance and con-
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1 sultative services shall be targeted at small employers,

2 high hazard worksites, and high hazard industries.

3 ‘‘(e)(1) There is established in the Treasury of the

4 United States a revolving fund to be known as the ‘OSHA

5 Assistance Fund’ (hereinafter in this subsection referred

6 to as the ‘Fund’). The Fund shall be used to pay the costs

7 of implementing subsection (d) (including administrative

8 and personnel expenses). Monies in the Fund shall be

9 available without fiscal year limitation to the Secretary for

10 such purpose.

11 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall charge fees in accordance

12 with this paragraph to offset the cost of implementing sub13 section (d). Such fees—

14 ‘‘(i) shall be imposed on a uniform basis on per15 sons receiving assistance under subsection (d);

16 ‘‘(ii) shall not exceed the cost of implementing

17 subsection (d); and

18 ‘‘(iii) with respect to each person receiving such

19 assistance, shall bear a reasonable relationship to

20 the cost of providing such assistance to such person.

21 ‘‘(B) Fees received by the Secretary under this sub22 section shall be deposited in the Fund.

23 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall report with respect to each

24 fiscal year to the Congress on the operation of the Fund

25 and shall include in such report—
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1 ‘‘(i) a summary of the assistance which the Sec2 retary has provided under subsection (d) with mon3 ies in the Fund in the fiscal year for which such re4 port is prepared;

5 ‘‘(ii) the cost to the Secretary to provide such

6 assistance; and

7 ‘‘(iii) the amount of any fee received by the Sec8 retary for such assistance.

9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest the

10 portion of the Fund not required to satisfy current ex11 penditures from the Fund, as determined by the Sec12 retary, in obligations of the United States or obligations

13 guaranteed as to principal by the United States. Invest14 ment proceeds shall be deposited in the Fund.

15 ‘‘(4) There is transferred to the Fund $30,000,000

16 from the Salaries and Expenses appropriation of the Sec17 retary for fiscal year 1994.’’.

18 TITLE VIII—RECORDKEEPING

19 AND REPORTING

20 SEC. 801. DATA COLLECTED BY SECRETARY.

21 Section 24(a) (29 U.S.C. 673) is amended—

22 (1) by designating the first through third sen23 tences as paragraphs (1) through (3), respectively;

24 and

25 (2) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purpose of setting safety and health

2 standards, targeting inspections to individual establish3 ments, evaluating standard setting and enforcement pro4 grams, and for other purposes, the Secretary shall collect

5 such information as may be necessary and conduct analy6 ses that identify—

7 ‘‘(i) industries, employers, establishments, proc8 esses, operations, and occupations that have a high

9 rate of injury or illness;

10 ‘‘(ii) factors that cause or contribute to injuries

11 and illnesses;

12 ‘‘(iii) workers’ compensation and other costs as13 sociated with the injuries and illnesses; and

14 ‘‘(iv) employee exposures to toxic substances

15 and harmful physical agents.

16 ‘‘(B) Data collected under subparagraph (A) shall be

17 publicly available in a form suitable for further statistical

18 analysis.

19 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall issue regulations that re20 quire each employer covered by this Act to report to the

21 Secretary each work-related death of an employee of the

22 employer immediately upon knowledge of the employer

23 and to report each serious incident that results in the hos24 pitalization of 2 or more employees of the employer within

25 24 hours of the incident.’’.
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1 SEC. 802. EMPLOYEE REPORTED ILLNESSES.

2 Section 8(c)(2) (29 U.S.C. 657(c)(2)) is amended by

3 striking ‘‘injuries and illnesses other than minor injuries

4 requiring only first aid treatment and’’ and inserting ‘‘in5 juries, illnesses, a work-related illness reported by an em6 ployee or an employee’s physician unless the employer

7 makes a reasonable determination that the illness is not

8 work related, and an adverse medical condition determined

9 as a result of a medical examination or test conducted

10 under an occupational safety and health standard.

11 Records and reports shall not be required for minor inju12 ries requiring only first aid treatment and’’.

13 SEC. 803. EMPLOYEE ACCESS.

14 Section 8(c)(2) (29 U.S.C. 657(c)(2)) is amended by

15 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The records and reports

16 required under this section shall be made available to the

17 Secretary, to the Secretary of Health and Human Serv18 ices, to employees, and to employee representatives.’’.

19 TITLE IX—NIOSH

20 SEC. 901. HAZARD EVALUATION REPORTS.

21 Section 20(a)(6) (29 U.S.C. 669(a)(6)) is amended—

22 (1) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘,

23 whether any potentially hazardous condition or

24 harmful physical agent found in the place of employ25 ment poses a risk to exposed employees’’ after ‘‘as

26 used or found’’; and
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1 (2) by inserting after the second sentence the

2 following: ‘‘If a determination is not made within 6

3 months of the request, the Secretary shall provide

4 the employer and employees with an interim report

5 on the known or suspected hazards, a recommenda6 tion for control, and an estimate of the time that a

7 final determination will be made.’’.

8 SEC. 902. SAFETY RESEARCH.

9 Section 20(a) (29 U.S.C. 669(a)) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(8) The Secretary of Health and Human Services

12 shall identify major factors contributing to occupational

13 injuries and deaths through accident investigations and

14 epidemiological research.’’.

15 SEC. 903. CONTRACTOR RIGHTS.

16 Section 20(b) (29 U.S.C. 669(b)) is amended in the

17 first sentence by inserting after ‘‘Secretary of Health and

18 Human Services’’ the following: ‘‘or the Secretary’s des19 ignees or contractors’’

20 SEC. 904. NATIONAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM.

21 Section 20 (29 U.S.C. 669) is amended by adding

22 at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary of Health and Human Services,

24 acting through the National Institute for Occupational

25 Safety and Health, shall (in cooperation with other agen-
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1 cies of the Department of Health and Human Services and

2 the Secretary of Labor), within 2 years of the date of the

3 enactment of the Comprehensive Occupational Safety and

4 Health Reform Act, establish a national surveillance pro5 gram to identify cases of occupational illnesses, deaths,

6 and serious injuries. In conducting the national surveil7 lance program, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv8 ices shall coordinate the activities of the Secretary with

9 State health agencies and Federal and State workers’

10 compensation agencies.

11 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv12 ices shall collect data each year on the number and charac13 teristics of all occupational deaths, selected occupational

14 illnesses, and selected occupational injuries.

15 ‘‘(B) In selecting occupational illnesses and injuries

16 for the collection of data under subparagraph (A), the Sec17 retary of Health and Human Services shall consider the

18 known frequency of the disorder, the severity of the dis19 order, and the size of the population at risk.

20 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Health and Human Services

21 shall prepare reports and analysis of deaths, occupational

22 illnesses, and injuries collected under the national surveil23 lance program and transmit the information to the Sec24 retary of Labor, State health agencies, employers, employ25 ees, and other interested parties.
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1 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of Health and Human Services

2 may issue regulations to require an employer, through a

3 physician or other health professional employed by or

4 under contract to the employer, to report information on

5 occupational deaths, illnesses and injuries in order to

6 carry out the provisions of this subsection.’’.

7 SEC. 905. ESTABLISHMENT OF NIOSH AS A SEPARATE

8 AGENCY WITHIN PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.

9 The second sentence of section 22(b) (29 U.S.C.

10 671(b)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘The Institute shall

11 be’’ the following: ‘‘established as a separate agency within

12 the United States Public Health Service and be’’.

13 SEC. 906. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS CHANGING REF14 ERENCES FROM HEW TO HHS.

15 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is

16 amended by striking out ‘‘Health, Education, and Wel17 fare’’ each place it appears in sections 6 through 8 (29

18 U.S.C. 655 through 657), sections 20 through 26 (29

19 U.S.C. 669 through 675), and section 27(c)(1) (29 U.S.C

20 676(c)(1) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Health and

21 Human Services’’.

22 SEC. 907. NIOSH TRAINING.

23 Section 21(a) (29 U.S.C. 670(a)) is amended by in24 serting after ‘‘education programs to provide an adequate

25 supply of qualified personnel to carry out the purposes of
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1 this Act,’’ the following: ‘‘including education programs

2 for employees and members of safety and health commit3 tees, as appropriate,’’

4 TITLE X—STATE PLANS

5 SEC. 1001. STATE PLAN COMMITTEES AND PROGRAMS.

6 Section 18(c) (29 U.S.C. 667(c)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

8 (7);

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para10 graph (8) and inserting a comma; and

11 (3) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(9) provides for the development of safety and

13 health programs and safety and health committees

14 and training programs that are at least as effective

15 as those required under sections 27 and 28, and.’’.

16 SEC. 1002. ACCESS TO INFORMATION; EMPLOYEE RIGHTS.

17 Section 18(c) (29 U.S.C. 667(c)) (as amended by sec18 tion 1001) is amended by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(10) provides for reporting requirements, pro20 tection of employee rights, and access to information

21 that are at least as effective as those required under

22 this Act or other Federal laws which govern access

23 to information related to this Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 1003. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL STANDARDS.

2 Section 18 (29 U.S.C. 667) is amended by adding

3 at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(i) In the event a State, within 6 months after the

5 promulgation of a safety and health standard by the Sec6 retary under section 6, fails to adopt or promulgate a

7 standard which is at least as effective as the Secretary’s

8 standard, the State shall enforce the Secretary’s standard

9 until a State standard which is at least as effective as such

10 standard is in effect.’’.

11 SEC. 1004. COMPLAINTS AGAINST A STATE PLAN.

12 Section 18 (29 U.S.C. 667) (as amended by section

13 1003) is amended—

14 (1) in the third sentence of subsection (e), by

15 inserting after ‘‘preceding sentence’’ the following:

16 ‘‘except as provided in subsections (f) and (j)’’; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(j)(1) If the Secretary receives a written complaint

19 from an employer, employee, or employee representative

20 that a State is deficient in it compliance with a provision

21 of its State plan and the Secretary determines that there

22 are reasonable grounds to believe that such deficiency ex23 ists, the Secretary shall promptly investigate any such

24 complaint, except that complaints which allege a deficiency

25 in an enforcement action by a State shall be investigated

26 within 30 days of the receipt of the complaint.
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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, within 30 days of comple2 tion of any investigation, transmit the findings in writing

3 to the State and to the complainant, which findings in4 clude recommendations to correct any deficiency which is

5 identified. If the Secretary determines there are no reason6 able grounds to believe that a deficiency exists, the Sec7 retary shall notify the complainant in writing of such de8 termination.

9 ‘‘(3) Within 30 days of the receipt of a finding issued

10 under paragraph (2), the State shall respond to the Sec11 retary in writing as to what action the State has taken

12 in response to the Secretary’s findings and recommenda13 tions.

14 ‘‘(4) If after receipt of the response of the State the

15 Secretary believes a serious violation of this Act exists for

16 which the State has failed to issue a citation, the Secretary

17 with reasonable promptness shall issue a citation. Section

18 9(c) shall not apply with respect to a citation issued under

19 this paragraph.’’.

20 SEC. 1005. ACTION AGAINST STATE PLAN.

21 Section 18(f) (29 U.S.C. 667(f)) is amended—

22 (1) by designating the first sentence as para23 graph (1);

24 (2) by redesignating the second sentence as

25 paragraph (3); and
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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so des2 ignated) the following new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(2)(A) If the Secretary determines at any time that

4 there are reasonable grounds for concluding there is a fail5 ure to comply substantially with any provision of the State

6 plan (or any assurance contained therein), the Secretary

7 shall give notice to the State of the deficiencies which, in

8 the Secretary’s view, warrant such withdrawal of approval,

9 and shall allow 6 months for the correction of the defi10 ciencies.

11 ‘‘(B) If after 6 months the Secretary determines that

12 the State has not corrected the deficiencies and that

13 grounds for withdrawing approval of the State plan still

14 exist, the Secretary shall institute proceedings pursuant

15 to paragraph (3) for the withdrawal of approval of the

16 plan, unless the Secretary determines in writing that ex17 ceptional circumstances exist that justify a decision not

18 to institute such proceedings.

19 ‘‘(C) During the pendency of proceedings pursuant

20 to paragraph (3), the Secretary shall exercise jurisdiction,

21 concurrent with the State, over the safety and health is22 sues that are subject to the State plan.’’.

23 SEC. 1006. STATE PLAN CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

24 Section 18 (29 U.S.C. 667) (as amended by section

25 1004) is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(k)(1) Each State which is exercising authority to

2 operate a State safety and health plan under this section

3 shall within one year of the effective date of the Com4 prehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act

5 modify the plan to conform with the requirements of this

6 Act.

7 ‘‘(2) In the case of a State which the Secretary identi8 fies as—

9 ‘‘(A) requiring State legislation (other than leg10 islation appropriating funds) to modify the State

11 safety and health plan to conform to the require12 ments of this Act, and

13 ‘‘(B) having a legislature which is not scheduled

14 to meet within 1 year of the effective date of the

15 Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Re16 form Act in legislative session in which such legisla17 tion may be considered,

18 the State shall modify the plan to conform to the require19 ments of this Act within 1 year or by the first day of the

20 first calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first

21 legislative session of the State legislature that begins after

22 the effective date of the Comprehensive Occupational Safe23 ty and Health Reform Act, whichever is later. For pur24 poses of the previous sentence, in the case of a State that

25 has a 2-year legislative session, each year of such session
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1 shall be deemed to be a separate session of the State legis2 lature.’’.

3 SEC. 1007. VALIDITY OF STATE LAWS.

4 Section 18 (29 U.S.C. 667) (as amended by section

5 1006) is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(l) Nothing in this section shall prevent any State

7 from enacting or enforcing State public safety and health

8 laws which are not limited to providing safe and healthful

9 employment or places of employment, including—

10 ‘‘(1) laws that regulate employees or places of

11 employment as a means of protecting the safety and

12 health of both non-employee members of the public

13 and employees, and

14 ‘‘(2) laws that license individuals to perform

15 particular types of work.’’.

16 TITLE XI—VICTIM’S RIGHTS

17 SEC. 1101. VICTIM’S RIGHTS.

18 Section 29 is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘SEC. 29. VICTIM’S RIGHTS.

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

21 term ‘victim’ means—

22 ‘‘(1) an employee who has sustained a work-re23 lated injury or illness which is the subject of an in24 spection or investigation conducted under section 8,

25 or
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1 ‘‘(2) a family member of an employee if the em2 ployee—

3 ‘‘(A) is killed as a result of a work-related

4 injury or illness which is the subject of an in5 spection or investigation of a death or serious

6 incident conducted under section 8; or

7 ‘‘(B) sustains a work-related injury which

8 is the subject of an inspection or investigation

9 conducted under section 8 and the employee

10 cannot reasonably exercise the employee’s rights

11 under this section.

12 ‘‘(b) RIGHTS.—On request, a victim shall be afforded

13 the right, with respect to a work-related injury, illness,

14 or death, to—

15 ‘‘(1) meet with the Secretary or an authorized

16 representative of the Secretary respecting the inspec17 tion or investigation conducted under section 8 con18 cerning the injury, illness, or death before the Sec19 retary’s decision to issue a citation or to take no ac20 tion, and

21 ‘‘(2) receive, at no cost, a copy of any citation

22 or report issued as a result of such inspection or in23 vestigation on the date the citation or report is is24 sued, be informed of any notice of contest filed

25 under section 10.
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1 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION OF CITATION.—Before entering

2 into an agreement to withdraw or modify a citation issued

3 as a result of an inspection or investigation of a death

4 or serious incident under section 8, the Secretary, on re5 quest, shall provide an opportunity to the victim involved

6 to appear and make a statement before the parties con7 ducting any settlement negotiations.

8 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall take rea9 sonable actions to inform victims of their rights under this

10 section.’’.

11 TITLE XII—CONSTRUCTION

12 SAFETY

13 SEC 1201. DEFINITIONS.

14 Section 3 (29 U.S.C. 652) (as amended by section

15 512(b)) is further amended by adding at the end thereof

16 the following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(16) For purposes of section 7(c), subsections

18 (j) through (l) of section 8, and sections 30 and 31:

19 ‘‘(A) The term ‘construction employer’

20 means an employer as defined in paragraph (5)

21 (including an employer who has no employees)

22 who is engaged primarily in the building and

23 construction industry or who performs construc24 tion work under a contract with a construction

25 owner, except that a utility providing or receiv-
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1 ing mutual assistance in the case of a natural

2 or man-made disaster shall not be considered a

3 construction employer.

4 ‘‘(B) The term ‘construction owner’ means

5 a person who owns, leases or has effective con6 trol over property with or without improve7 ments, a structure, or other improvement on

8 real property on which construction work is

9 being, or will be, performed.

10 ‘‘(C) The term ‘construction project’

11 means all construction work by one or more

12 construction employers which is performed for a

13 construction owner and which is described in

14 work orders, permits, requisitions, agreements,

15 and other project documents.

16 ‘‘(D) The term ‘construction work’ means

17 work for construction, alteration, demolition, or

18 repair, or any combination thereof, including

19 painting and decorating, but does not include

20 work performed under a contract between a

21 construction employer and a homeowner for

22 work on the homeowner’s own residence, or rou23 tine maintenance and upkeep performed at least

24 monthly, and such term shall include work per25 formed under a contract between a construction
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1 employer and an agency of the United States or

2 any State or political subdivision of a State.

3 ‘‘(E) The term ‘construction worksite’

4 means a site within a construction project

5 where construction work is performed by one or

6 more construction employers.

7 ‘‘(F) The term ‘competent person’ means a

8 representative of a construction employer who is

9 capable of identifying safety and health hazards

10 and has authorization from the employer to

11 take prompt corrective action.’’.

12 SEC. 1202. OFFICE OF CONSTRUCTION SAFETY, HEALTH,

13 AND EDUCATION.

14 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

15 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended—

16 (1) by striking out sections 29 through 32 and

17 section 34; and

18 (2) by inserting after section 28 the following

19 new section:

20 ‘‘SEC. 30. OFFICE OF CONSTRUCTION SAFETY, HEALTH,

21 AND EDUCATION.

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

23 Occupational Safety and Health Administration an Office

24 of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (herein25 after in this section referred to as the ‘Office’) to ensure
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1 safe and healthful working conditions in the performance

2 of construction work.

3 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(1) identify construction employers that have

5 high fatality rates or high lost workday injury or ill6 ness rates or who have demonstrated a pattern of

7 noncompliance with safety and health standards,

8 rules, and regulations;

9 ‘‘(2) develop a system for notification of em10 ployers identified under paragraph (1);

11 ‘‘(3) establish, after consultation with the Advi12 sory Committee on Construction Safety and Health,

13 training courses and curriculum for the training of

14 inspectors and other persons with duties related to

15 construction safety and health who are employed by

16 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration;

17 ‘‘(4) establish model compliance programs for

18 construction safety and health standards and assist

19 employers, employees, and organizations represent20 ing employers and employees in establishing training

21 programs appropriate to such standards; and

22 ‘‘(5) establish a toll-free line on which reports,

23 complaints, and notifications required under this Act

24 may be made.

25 ‘‘(c) PERSONNEL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CON2 STRUCTION.—The Office shall be headed by a Dep3 uty Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction,

4 appointed by the Secretary. The Deputy Assistant

5 Secretary shall coordinate the activities of the Office

6 and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety

7 and Health with the activities of other offices and

8 directorates within the Occupational Safety and

9 Health Administration to the extent that the activi10 ties of those other offices and directorates relate to

11 safety, health, and education in the construction in12 dustry.

13 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS OF INSPECTORS.—The

14 Secretary, with the advice of the Advisory Commit15 tee on Construction Safety and Health, shall deter16 mine the necessary qualifications and training re17 quirements for individuals employed by the Occupa18 tional Safety and Health Administration whose re19 sponsibilities include the inspection of construction

20 worksites. Such qualifications and requirements

21 shall, at a minimum, include—

22 ‘‘(A) a requirement that the inspector,

23 after receiving appropriate training, have a full

24 understanding of this Act and the Secretary’s
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1 standards and regulations applicable to con2 struction work; and

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of a construction safety

4 inspector, at least 5 years of experience working

5 in the construction industry.’’.

6 SEC. 1203. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLANS

7 AND PROGRAMS.

8 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

9 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (as amended by section 1202) is fur10 ther amended by adding after section 30 the following new

11 section:

12 ‘‘SEC. 31. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLANS AND

13 PROGRAMS.

14 ‘‘(a) PROJECT CONSTRUCTOR.—The Secretary shall,

15 by regulation, require each construction project to have

16 an individual or entity (hereinafter referred to as the

17 ‘project constructor’) that is responsible for the establish18 ment of the safety and health plan for such project and

19 for ensuring that the project safety coordinator exercises

20 the duties set forth in this Act. Such regulations shall re21 quire that—

22 ‘‘(1) if only one general or prime contractor ex23 ists on a construction project, such contractor shall

24 be the project constructor, unless such contractor
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1 designates another individual or entity with its con2 sent to be the project constructor; and

3 ‘‘(2) if a construction project has more than

4 one general or prime contractor, the construction

5 owner shall be the project constructor unless such

6 construction owner designates another individual or

7 entity with its consent to be the project constructor.

8 ‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLAN.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by

10 regulation, require that the project constructor for a

11 construction project develop and implement a writ12 ten construction safety and health plan for the con13 struction project (hereinafter in this section referred

14 to as the ‘plan’) to protect employees against haz15 ards which may occur at such project.

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations under

17 paragraph (1) shall, at a minimum, require that the

18 plan shall include a hazard analysis and construction

19 process protocol which shall apply to each worksite

20 of the project. The analysis and protocol shall in21 clude a specific reference to critical conditions in the

22 construction process which may cause hazards to

23 exist, identify the methods to be used at such work24 site to ensure the structural stability of all buildings,

25 structures, and excavations, and list all inspections
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1 and tests required at such worksite to protect the

2 safety and health of employees.

3 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the plan shall

4 be made available to each construction employer

5 prior to commencement of construction work by that

6 employer.

7 ‘‘(c) PROJECT SAFETY COORDINATOR.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by

9 regulation, require that for every construction

10 project, the project constructor shall designate a

11 project safety coordinator appointed by and acting

12 on behalf of the project constructor. Such regula13 tions shall, at a minimum, require the following:

14 ‘‘(A) The project safety coordinator shall,

15 on behalf of the project constructor—

16 ‘‘(i) implement the plan;

17 ‘‘(ii) ensure that each construction

18 employer on the project has a safety and

19 health program which complies with the

20 plan and the requirements of subsection

21 (d);

22 ‘‘(iii) conduct regular inspections of

23 the worksite to monitor compliance by em24 ployers with the plan and with their safety

25 and health programs;
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1 ‘‘(iv) notify affected construction em2 ployers of any hazardous conditions discov3 ered at a construction worksite or of non4 compliance by an employer with the project

5 safety and health plan, or the employer’s

6 own safety and health plan; and

7 ‘‘(v) if the hazard or noncompliance is

8 not corrected, notify the construction

9 owner and the project constructor.

10 ‘‘(B) The project safety coordinator shall

11 issue written approval before an employer may

12 engage in an operation of a type determined by

13 the Secretary to pose a substantial risk of death

14 or serious bodily injury.

15 ‘‘(C) The project safety coordinator shall—

16 ‘‘(i) upon request of any construction

17 employer, employee, or employee represent18 ative conduct an inspection at a construc19 tion worksite to determine if an imminent

20 danger exists and shall stop work at, or re21 move affected employees from, an area in

22 which such a danger exists;

23 ‘‘(ii) investigate each fatality, serious

24 bodily injury, structural failure, fire, or ex25 plosion that occurs on the project; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) notify the Secretary if a con2 struction employer fails promptly to abate

3 an imminent danger, and request the Sec4 retary to conduct an immediate inspection

5 of the worksite.

6 ‘‘(D) The project safety coordinator shall

7 be on site as necessary and be promptly avail8 able at all times that work is being performed

9 on the project.

10 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The project safety co11 ordinator shall be an individual who is certified by

12 an organization or organizations approved by the

13 Secretary as having fulfilled the requirements of a

14 standardized training course and testing program

15 developed or approved by the Secretary with the ad16 vice of the Advisory Committee on Construction

17 Safety and Health. Until the Secretary develops

18 such approved procedures, the project safety coordi19 nator shall meet the requirements of a competent

20 person under subsection (e).

21 ‘‘(d) CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PRO22 GRAMS.—The Secretary shall, by regulation, require every

23 construction employer on a construction project to have

24 a written safety and health program applicable to the em25 ployer’s work on such project. The Secretary’s regulations
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1 shall, in addition to the requirements under section 27(b),

2 at a minimum, require the following:

3 ‘‘(1) The program shall provide for safety and

4 health meetings to review the safety and health pro5 gram to be conducted with construction employees

6 during working hours prior to the commencement of

7 the employer’s work on the project. Thereafter, safe8 ty and health meetings shall be held at least monthly

9 to provide updated information to employees on the

10 construction process and the hazards associated with

11 those processes. A safety and health meeting shall be

12 held with newly hired employees and with those em13 ployees assigned to construction work with which

14 they are unfamiliar before such work commences.

15 ‘‘(2) The program shall contain procedures for

16 the emergency evacuation of the employer’s employ17 ees from a construction worksite.

18 ‘‘(3) The program shall contain procedures to

19 ensure that a competent person is on the construc20 tion worksite at all times that work is being per21 formed by such employer.

22 ‘‘(4) The program shall contain procedures to

23 ensure that all construction employees of the em24 ployer shall receive or have received within the 12-

25 month period immediately preceding their employ-
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1 ment, general safety and health training in a man2 ner prescribed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall

3 prescribe a procedure or procedures by which an em4 ployer may verify that employees have received the

5 required training.

6 ‘‘(5) The program shall indicate if the employer

7 has received notification under section 30(b)(2).

8 ‘‘(e) COMPETENT PERSONS.—The Secretary shall, by

9 regulation, require each construction employer to des10 ignate one or more competent persons who shall be respon11 sible for the administration of the safety and health pro12 gram. Such regulations shall, at a minimum, require the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(1) A competent person shall be on the con15 struction worksite at all times that work is being

16 performed by such employer.

17 ‘‘(2) A competent person shall engage in inspec18 tions of the site, materials, and equipment, as appro19 priate, and shall stop work of such employer at, or

20 remove affected employees of the employer from, an

21 area in which an imminent danger exists. The com22 petent person shall notify forthwith the project con23 structor or project safety coordinator of the immi24 nent danger and of the action taken to ensure the
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1 prompt abatement of such danger and to prevent its

2 recurrence.

3 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, by regula5 tion, may modify the requirements of subsections (a)

6 through (e), or portions thereof, as they apply to

7 certain types of construction work or operations

8 where the Secretary determines that, in light of the

9 nature of the risks faced by employees engaged in

10 such work or operation, such a modification would

11 not adversely affect employee safety and health. In

12 making such modifications, the Secretary shall take

13 into account the risk of death or serious injury or

14 illness, and the frequency of fatalities and the lost

15 work day injury rate attendant to such work or op16 erations.

17 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY WORK.—If it is necessary to

18 perform construction work on a worksite imme19 diately in order to prevent injury to persons, or sub20 stantial damage to property, and such work must be

21 conducted before compliance with the requirements

22 of the regulations under subsections (a) through (e)

23 can be made, the Secretary shall be given notice as

24 soon as practicable of such work. Compliance with
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1 such requirements shall then be made as soon as

2 practicable thereafter.’’.

3 SEC. 1204. INSPECTIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, REPORTING,

4 AND RECORDKEEPING.

5 Section 8 (29 U.S.C. 657) (as amended by sections

6 504 and 505) is further amended by adding at the end

7 thereof the following new subsections:

8 ‘‘(j)(1) The Secretary shall establish an effective

9 targeting system for general schedule construction inspec10 tions. In establishing such system, the Secretary shall es11 tablish priorities to ensure that construction enforcement

12 activities are concentrated on construction projects, work13 sites, or operations having a high potential for deaths, in14 juries or illnesses.

15 ‘‘(2) In establishing construction inspection priorities

16 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give due weight

17 to—

18 ‘‘(A) the record of compliance with this Act and

19 its regulations by particular construction employers;

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) the fatality rate and the lost workday in22 jury rate attributable to particular construction own23 ers and construction employers and particular types

24 of construction projects and construction operations.
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1 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall use reports and notices filed

2 with the Secretary and other pertinent information to de3 velop the construction inspection priorities required under

4 this subsection.

5 ‘‘(4) The construction inspection priorities required

6 by paragraph (1) shall not have the effect of limiting the

7 Secretary’s authority to conduct inspections of any em8 ployer or worksite under other provisions of this Act.

9 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall, by regulation, require that,

10 before the commencement of (A) specific, highly hazard11 ous construction work, or (B) work by employers identified

12 under section 30(b)(1), the project constructor shall re13 port to the Secretary information regarding the project to

14 allow the Secretary, on the basis of the inspection priority

15 system required by paragraph (1), to determine whether

16 to conduct an inspection of such project or of a worksite

17 or worksites on such project. Such regulations shall re18 quire, at a minimum, that the information reported in19 clude the location of the project or worksite, the names

20 of the construction owner, project constructor, project

21 safety coordinator, and construction employers working on

22 the project, the type of work to be performed, and the

23 anticipated dates of such construction activities.

24 ‘‘(k)(1) The Secretary shall, by regulation, require

25 that the project constructor of a construction project
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1 promptly report to the Secretary any incident involving

2 construction work that results in—

3 ‘‘(A) an injury or illness causing 2 or more hos4 pitalizations; or

5 ‘‘(B) a structural failure or fire or explosion

6 which caused or could have caused serious bodily in7 jury to employees.

8 ‘‘(2) The Secretary’s regulations shall provide at a

9 minimum that each report required under paragraph (1)

10 shall contain the names, business addresses, and telephone

11 numbers of the construction owner of the worksite, the

12 project constructor and project safety coordinator, and the

13 construction employer whose construction employee was

14 killed or seriously injured.

15 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall investigate any incident re16 ported pursuant to paragraph (1).

17 ‘‘(l) The Secretary shall, by regulation, require

18 project constructors to make and maintain accurate

19 records concerning fatalities, serious bodily injuries, struc20 tural failures, fires, and explosions at construction

21 projects.’’.

22 SEC. 1205. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON CONSTRUCTION

23 SAFETY AND HEALTH.

24 Section 7 (29 U.S.C. 656) (as amended by section

25 701) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and

2 (e) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow4 ing new subsections:

5 ‘‘(c)(1) The Advisory Committee on Construction

6 Safety and Health, established by the Secretary pursuant

7 to section 107(e) of the Contract Work Hours and Safety

8 Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333(e)), shall be composed of

9 15 members, as follows:

10 ‘‘(A) One member shall be designated by the

11 Secretary of Health and Human Services.

12 ‘‘(B) Five members, appointed by the Sec13 retary, shall be qualified by experience and affili14 ation with construction employer and employer asso15 ciations to present the viewpoint of the employers in16 volved and five members, appointed by the Sec17 retary, shall be qualified by experience and affili18 ation with labor organizations in the building and

19 construction industry to present the viewpoint of em20 ployees involved.

21 ‘‘(C) Two members, appointed by the Secretary,

22 shall be representatives of State safety and health

23 agencies.

24 ‘‘(D) Two members, appointed by the Sec25 retary, shall be qualified by knowledge and experi-
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1 ence to be able to make useful contribution to the

2 work of the Advisory Committee.

3 ‘‘(2) The term of office of each member shall be 3

4 years. The terms of 5 members shall expire each year and

5 the terms of no more than 2 representatives of the same

6 interest shall expire the same year. A member whose term

7 has expired shall continue to serve until a successor is ap8 pointed unless such member resigns or becomes unable to

9 serve.

10 ‘‘(d)(1) In addition to the functions prescribed by sec11 tion 107(e) of the Contract Work Hours and Safety

12 Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333(e)), the Advisory Commit13 tee on Construction Safety and Health shall also serve as

14 an advisory committee to the Secretary and the Secretary

15 of Health and Human Services on matters relating to the

16 administration of this Act. The Committee shall advise,

17 consult with, and make recommendations to the Secretary

18 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the

19 formulation of construction safety and health standards

20 and other regulations and with respect to policy matters

21 arising in the administration of this Act as it affects the

22 construction industry. In carrying out its functions, the

23 Advisory Committee may—

24 ‘‘(A) with the consent of the Secretary, obtain

25 special advisory and technical experts or consultants
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1 as may be necessary to carry out the functions of

2 the Advisory Committee;

3 ‘‘(B) establish working groups to address mat4 ters coming before the Committee during times the

5 Committee is not in session;

6 ‘‘(C) schedule no fewer than four meetings dur7 ing each calendar year and require a transcript to

8 be kept of the meetings and to be made available for

9 public inspection; and

10 ‘‘(D) consider such matters as it may determine

11 to be appropriate, in addition to those matters re12 ferred by the Secretary.

13 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall respond in writing to any

14 recommendations made by a majority of the members of

15 the Advisory Committee within 60 days of the Advisory

16 Committee’s issuance of such recommendation.’’.

17 SEC. 1206. STATE CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH

18 PLANS.

19 Section 18 (29 U.S.C. 667) (as amended by sections

20 1003, 1004 and 1006) is further amended by adding at

21 the end thereof the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(l) Any State plan that covers construction safety

23 and health shall contain requirements which, and the en24 forcement of which, are, and will be, at least as effective,

25 in providing safe and healthful employment and places of
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1 employment in the construction industry as the require2 ments contained in subsection (c), and the requirements

3 imposed by, and enforced under, this Act and section 107

4 of the Contract Work Hours Standards Act (40 U.S.C.

5 333), including—

6 ‘‘(1) requirements relating to the training and

7 qualifications of State agency construction inspec8 tors;

9 ‘‘(2) requirements relating to construction safe10 ty and health plans and programs; and

11 ‘‘(3) requirements relating to inspections, inves12 tigations, reporting, and recordkeeping.’’.

13 SEC. 1207. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH ACADEMY.

14 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

15 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (as amended by section 1203) is fur16 ther amended by inserting after section 31 the following

17 new section:

18 ‘‘SEC. 32. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH ACADEMY.

19 ‘‘There is established in the Occupational Safety and

20 Health Administration a Construction Safety and Health

21 Academy to conduct training of employees of the Occupa22 tional Safety and Health Administration who conduct in23 spections of construction worksites and such other persons

24 as the Secretary, with the advice of the Advisory Commit-
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1 tee on Construction Safety and Health, shall consider ap2 propriate.’’.

3 SEC. 1208. ENFORCEMENT.

4 Section 9 (29 U.S.C. 658) (as amended by section

5 515) is further amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section and sections 8, 10,

8 11, and 17, a project constructor shall be considered an

9 employer.’’.

10 SEC. 1209. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

11 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

12 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (as amended by section 1202) is fur13 ther amended by adding after section 33 the following new

14 section:

15 ‘‘SEC. 34. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation

17 with the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and

18 Health, shall prepare and submit to the President for

19 transmittal to the Congress an annual report upon the

20 same general subjects as are set forth in section 26 and

21 as they relate to the construction industry, including the

22 operation of the Office of Construction Safety, Health,

23 and Education.

24 ‘‘(b) EFFECT OF EXISTING CONDITIONS IN CON25 STRUCTION INDUSTRY.—Within 120 days following the
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1 conclusion of 3 years of operation of the Office of Con2 struction Safety, Health, and Education, the Secretary,

3 with the advice and assistance of the Advisory Committee

4 on Construction Safety and Health, shall prepare and sub5 mit to the President for transmittal to the Congress a re6 port upon the subject whether the then existing conditions

7 of occupational safety and health in the construction in8 dustry, the effectiveness of regulation and enforcement,

9 and any other relevant information supports the continued

10 existence of the Office within the Occupational Safety and

11 Health Administration, or the enactment of legislation to

12 establish in the Department of Labor a Construction In13 dustry Safety and Health Administration to be headed by

14 an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction Safety

15 and Health, or the enactment of legislation making any

16 other changes in the law.’’.

17 SEC. 1210. FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.

18 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact19 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall deliver to

20 the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of

21 Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human

22 Resources of the Senate recommendations regarding legis23 lative changes required to make the safety records (includ24 ing records of compliance with Federal safety and health

25 laws and regulations) of persons bidding for contracts sub-
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1 ject to section 107 of the Contract Work Hours and Safety

2 Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333) a criterion to be consid3 ered in the awarding of such contracts.

4 SEC. 1211. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING LAW AND REGULA5 TIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing contained in the amend7 ments made by this title or the regulations issued to carry

8 out the amendments shall limit the application of, or less9 en, any of the requirements of the Occupational Safety

10 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), the Con11 tract Work Hours Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 327 et seq.),

12 or the standards or regulations issued by the Secretary

13 of Labor to carry out either such Act.

14 (b) PROJECT CONSTRUCTORS.—The presence and

15 duties of a project constructor or a project safety coordi16 nator on a project shall not in any way diminish the re17 sponsibilities of construction employers under the Occupa18 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et

19 seq.) for the safety and health of their employees.

20 SEC. 1212. TIMETABLE FOR REGULATIONS.

21 The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register

22 in proposed form, no later than 90 days after the effective

23 date of this Act, the regulations that this Act directs the

24 Secretary to prescribe, and shall promulgate the final reg25 ulations no later than 180 days after the effective date
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1 of this title. The final rules and regulations shall become

2 effective 60 days after the date on which they are promul3 gated.

4 TITLE XIII—WORKER’S

5 COMPENSATION STUDY

6 SEC. 1301. COMMISSION.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Fed8 eral Worker’s Compensation Commission (hereinafter in

9 this title referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com11 posed of 15 members appointed as follows:

12 (1) 7 members shall be appointed by the Presi13 dent. One of such members shall be the Chairman.

14 (2) 4 members shall be appointed by the Speak15 er of the House of Representatives. The Speaker

16 may appoint a Member of Congress to serve on the

17 Commission.

18 (3) 4 members shall be appointed by the Major19 ity Leader of the Senate. The Majority Leader may

20 appoint a Member of the Senate to serve on the

21 Commission.

22 8 members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum

23 for the purpose of doing business.

24 (c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Commission are as

25 follows:
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1 (1) The Commission shall review the rec2 ommendations of the National Commission on State

3 Workmen’s Compensation Laws to determine the ex4 tent such recommendations were implemented, to

5 identify barriers to such implementation which ex6 isted or still exist, and to determine if the rec7 ommendations which were not implemented are still

8 appropriate.

9 (2) The Commission shall study the feasibility

10 of utilizing worker’s compensation data to target

11 loss prevention activities on high risk occupations.

12 (3) The Commission shall examine worker’s

13 compensation laws to determine—

14 (A) the effectiveness of the laws in meeting

15 financial and medical needs of injured workers,

16 (B) the adequacy of the administrative sys17 tem under such laws and the appropriateness of

18 such laws being the exclusive remedy for inju19 ries and deaths in light of disputes, litigation,

20 and delays in resolving cases brought under

21 such laws,

22 (C) whether such laws provide adequately

23 for occupational illnesses and diseases and pro24 vide for quality control and medical and reha25 bilitation costs with cost control,
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1 (D) whether such laws provide sufficient

2 time for recuperation and counseling before an

3 injured or ill worker returns to full duty,

4 (E) the relationship between worker’s com5 pensation, safety and health programs, and in6 surance rates and services,

7 (F) the feasibility and appropriateness of

8 transferring the branch of the Department of

9 Labor involved in worker’s compensation stud10 ies from the Employment Standards Adminis11 tration to the Occupational Safety and Health

12 Administration, and

13 (G) the feasibility of preempting State

14 worker’s compensation laws with a national pro15 gram.

16 (4) The Commission shall evaluate the factors

17 responsible for the differentials in workers’ com18 pensation insurance premiums in different States in

19 high hazard occupations and shall make rec20 ommendations for reducing injury rates and exces21 sive workers’ compensation costs in such occupa22 tions. Such an evaluation shall include a review of

23 the injury rates, laws, and programs and practices

24 pursuant to the laws in the States. The rec25 ommendations of the Commission shall be sent to
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1 the Governors of the States, State legislatures, and

2 the Congress.

3 (5) The Commission shall report to the Con4 gress on the effect of preemption under section 514

5 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of

6 1974 on State workers’ compensation laws and on

7 whether such preemption has been used by employ8 ers to undercut worker protection, coverage, and the

9 premium structure under State workers’ compensa10 tion laws.

11 (6) The Commission shall transmit to the

12 President and the Congress not later than two years

13 after the effective date of this Act a final report con14 taining a detailed statement of its findings, conclu15 sions, and recommendations.

16 (d) AUTHORITY.—

17 (1) The Commission or, on the authorization of

18 the Commission, any subcommittee or members

19 thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out sub20 section (c), hold such hearings, take such testimony,

21 and sit and act at such times and places as the

22 Commission deems advisable. Any member author23 ized by the Commission may administer oaths or af24 firmations to witnesses appearing before the Com25 mission or any subcommittee or members thereof.
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1 (2) Each department, agency, and instrumen2 tality of the executive branch of the Government, in3 cluding independent agencies, shall furnish to the

4 Commission, upon request made by the Chairman,

5 such information as the Commission deems nec6 essary to carry out its functions under subsection

7 (c).

8 (3) Subject to such regulations as may be

9 adopted by the Commission, the Chairman shall

10 have the power to—

11 (A) appoint and fix the compensation of an

12 executive director, and such additional staff

13 personnel as the Chairman deems necessary,

14 without regard to the provisions of title 5, Unit15 ed States Code, governing appointments in the

16 competitive service, and without regard to the

17 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of

18 chapter 53 of such title relating to classification

19 and General Schedule pay rates, but at rates

20 not in excess of the maximum rate for GS–18

21 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of

22 such title, and

23 (B) procure temporary and intermittent

24 services to the same extent as is authorized by

25 section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.
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1 (4) The Commission may enter into contracts

2 with Federal or State agencies, private firms, insti3 tutions, and individuals for the conduct of research

4 or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other ac5 tivities necessary to the discharge of its duties.

6 (5) Members of the Commission who are not

7 Members of Congress shall receive compensation for

8 each day they are engaged in the performance of

9 their duties as members of the Commission at the

10 daily rate prescribed for GS–18 under section 5332

11 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be entitled

12 to reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other

13 necessary expenses.

14 TITLE XIV—ADMINISTRATION

15 SEC. 1401. ADMINISTRATION.

16 There is established in the Department of Labor an

17 Occupational Safety and Health Administration to be

18 headed by an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupa19 tional Safety and Health appointed by the President, by

20 and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Sec21 retary shall, except as specifically provided otherwise,

22 carry out the Secretary’s functions under the Occupational

23 Safety and Health Act of 1970 through the Occupational

24 Safety and Health Administration.
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1 TITLE XV—EFFECTIVE DATE

2 SEC. 1501. EFFECTIVE DATE.

3 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

4 take effect upon the expiration of 90 days after the date

5 of the enactment of this Act.

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