II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1793

To provide an exemption from citation by the Secretary of Labor under

the Occupational Safety and Health Act to employers of individuals

who perform rescues of individuals in imminent danger as a result

of a life threatening accident, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 25, 1994

Mr. KEMPTHORNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide an exemption from citation by the Secretary

of Labor under the Occupational Safety and Health Act

to employers of individuals who perform rescues of individuals in imminent danger as a result of a life threatening accident, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heroic Efforts to Res5 cue Others Act’’ (HERO Act).

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) existing Occupational Safety and Health

2 Administration regulations require the issuance of a

3 citation to an employer in a circumstance in which

4 an employee of such employer has voluntarily acted

5 in a heroic manner to rescue individuals from immi6 nent harm during work hours;

7 (2) application of such regulations to employers

8 in such circumstance causes hardships to those em9 ployers who are responsible for employees who per10 form heroic acts to save individuals from imminent

11 harm;

12 (3) strict application of such regulations in such

13 circumstance penalizes employers as a result of the

14 time lost and legal fees incurred to defend against

15 such citations; and

16 (4) in order to save employers the cost of un17 necessary enforcement an exemption from the issu18 ance of a citation to an employer under certain situ19 ations related to such circumstance is appropriate.

20 SEC. 3. CITATIONS.

21 Section 9 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act

22 (29 U.S.C. 658) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(d)(1) No citation may be issued under this section

2 with respect to a rescue by an employer’s employee of an

3 individual in imminent harm unless—

4 ‘‘(A)(i) such employee is designated by the em5 ployee’s employer for service on a rescue team; and

6 ‘‘(ii) the employer fails to provide protection of

7 the safety and health of such employee, including

8 failing to provide rescue equipment or providing in9 adequate personal protective equipment;

10 ‘‘(B)(i) such employee is directed by the em11 ployee’s employer to perform rescue activities in the

12 course of carrying out the employee’s job duties; and

13 ‘‘(ii) the employer fails to provide protection of

14 the safety and health of such employee, including

15 failing to provide rescue equipment or providing in16 adequate personal protective equipment; or

17 ‘‘(C)(i) such employee—

18 ‘‘(I) is employed in a workplace that re19 quires such employee to carry out duties that

20 are directly related to a workplace operation

21 where the likelihood of life-threatening acci22 dents is foreseeable, such as a workplace oper23 ation where employees are located in confined

24 spaces or trenches, handle hazardous waste, re-
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1 spond to emergency situations, or perform exca2 vations or construction over water;

3 ‘‘(II) has no occupational responsibility to

4 rescue such an individual; and

5 ‘‘(III) voluntarily elects to rescue such an

6 individual; and

7 ‘‘(ii) the employer fails to provide training to

8 such employee prior to the assignment of such em9 ployee to such workplace operation on the recogni10 tion of the hazards inherent in a rescue effort and

11 the risks to a potential rescuer who is not trained

12 in rescue operations.

13 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘immi14 nent harm’ means the existence of any condition or prac15 tice that could reasonably be expected to cause death or

16 serious physical harm before such condition or practice

17 can be abated.’’.

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