II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1661

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to provide for

uniform warnings on personal protective equipment for occupational use,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 16 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Mr. DURENBERGER (for himself and Mr. PELL) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and

Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

to provide for uniform warnings on personal protective

equipment for occupational use, 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 ‘‘Worker Protection

5 Warnings Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCE.

7 Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is ex8 pressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a sec9 tion or other provisions, the reference shall be considered
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1 to be made to a section or other provision of the Occupa2 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651

3 et seq.).

4 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the absence of uniform warnings for per7 sonal protective equipment for occupational use risks

8 causes confusion among employers and their employ9 ees concerning the proper use and limitations of

10 such equipment and increases worker exposure to

11 workplace injuries and illnesses from lack of proper

12 worker training and consequent misuse of such

13 equipment; and

14 (2) the absence of Federal standards specifying

15 warnings for personal protective equipment for occu16 pational uses leaves questions as to the adequacy of

17 such warnings to be determined by different and fre18 quently inconsistent State requirements, prohibi19 tions, and court decisions, placing an undue burden

20 on interstate commerce in such equipment.

21 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

22 It is the purpose of this Act to—

23 (1) increase workplace safety by enhancing em24 ployer and employee understanding of the proper use

25 and limits of personal protective equipment for occu-
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1 pational use through occupational safety and health

2 standards that establish specific coherent and effec3 tive uniform warnings for such equipment; and

4 (2) expressly preempt the application of any

5 State standards, requirements, or prohibitions,

6 whether established by statute, regulation, court de7 cisions or otherwise, in any determination of the

8 adequacy of such uniform warnings.

9 SEC. 5. UNIFORM WARNINGS FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE

10 EQUIPMENT FOR OCCUPATIONAL USE.

11 Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 655) is amended by adding at

12 the end the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(h)(1) Not later than 12 months after the date of

14 enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, in consulta15 tion with the Director of the National Institute of Occupa16 tional Safety and Health, shall issue a final regulation es17 tablishing, as occupational safety and health standards,

18 uniform warnings for personal protective equipment for

19 occupational use.

20 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this Act—

21 ‘‘(A) the term ‘personal protective equipment’

22 means equipment intended for use by workers in a

23 workplace subject to this Act to protect the eyes,

24 face, head, hearing, extremities, or respiratory tract

25 from workplace hazards or to function as protective
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1 clothing, as a protective shield or barrier, as per2 sonal fall arrest or ladder safety devices, or as safety

3 and health monitoring and instrumentation devices;

4 and

5 ‘‘(B) the term ‘warning’ means any statement

6 that—

7 ‘‘(i) directs or describes one or more ac8 tions, procedures, or prohibitions relating to the

9 use of personal protective equipment; and

10 ‘‘(ii) if not complied with, may result in

11 personal injury or death to the user of the

12 equipment.

13 ‘‘(3) Each standard promulgated under paragraph

14 (1) shall prescribe the full text of each warning described

15 in such paragraph and the means by which the manufac16 turer or other seller of the personal protective equipment

17 shall communicate each such warning to the employer

18 using such equipment.

19 ‘‘(4) Each standard issued under paragraph (1) for

20 personal protective equipment shall—

21 ‘‘(A) require the employer to communicate each

22 prescribed warning to each employee using the per23 sonal protective equipment, and to train, educate

24 and instruct each such employee in—
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1 ‘‘(i) the proper use of such personal protec2 tive equipment;

3 ‘‘(ii) how each such warning applies in

4 such employer’s workplace and such employee’s

5 work environment; and

6 ‘‘(iii) the consequences of failing to observe

7 each such warning;

8 ‘‘(B) become effective 6 months after the date

9 on which such standards is published in the Federal

10 Register; and

11 ‘‘(C) exempt from coverage under such stand12 ard warnings for personal protective equipment

13 placed in interstate commerce by its manufacturer

14 before the date such standard becomes effective un15 less such manufacturer or other seller of such equip16 ment communicates the prescribed warnings to the

17 employer using the equipment as required in such

18 standard.

19 ‘‘(5) The Secretary, in promulgating standards pur20 suant to paragraph (1), shall consider such factors as the

21 experience of manufacturers using particular warnings

22 and the means of communication of such warnings, as well

23 as the opinions of workers, human factors experts, the Na24 tional Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and

25 other experts as to the effectiveness of such warnings and
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1 respective means of communication. Information on such

2 factors and opinions shall be submitted as written data

3 and comments during submission under subsection (b)(2)

4 of this section.’’.

5 SEC. 6. PREEMPTION.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 (29 U.S.C. 653) is

7 amended by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(c) Nothing is this section shall be construed to ne9 gate the intent of Congress to occupy or regulate the en10 tire field of warnings for personal protective equipment for

11 occupational use.’’.

12 (b) OTHER STANDARDS.—Section 18 (29 U.S.C.

13 667) is amended by adding at the end the following new

14 subsection:

15 ‘‘(i)(1) After an occupational safety and health stand16 ard issued under section 6(h) becomes effective, no State,

17 or political subdivision of a State, may, by legislation, reg18 ulation, court decision, or otherwise establish or continue

19 in effect, any standard, requirement, or prohibition for

20 any personal protective equipment which has the force and

21 effect of law which is different from, or in addition to,

22 any requirement set forth in any occupational safety and

23 health standard promulgated by the Secretary under sec24 tion 6(h).
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1 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection

2 (c)(2), the Secretary may not approve a plan submitted

3 by a State under subsection (b), or any modification there4 of, if such plan includes any requirement that is different

5 from, or is in addition to, any requirement set forth in

6 any occupational safety and health standard promulgated

7 by the Secretary under section 6(h).’’.

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