II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1265

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

provisions to include construction safety requirements.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 7, 1997

Mr. DODD 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 expand the provisions to include construction safety

requirements.

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 ‘‘Construction Safety,

5 Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1997’’.

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

7 EDUCATION.

8 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

9 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended—

10 (1) by striking sections 30, 31, and 34;
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1 (2) by redesignating sections 32 through 33 as

2 sections 34 and 35, respectively; and

3 (3) by inserting after section 29 the following:

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

5 AND EDUCATION.

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

7 Occupational Safety and Health Administration an Office

8 of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (herein9 after in this section referred to as the ‘Office’) to ensure

10 safe and healthful working conditions in the performance

11 of construction work.

12 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall—

13 ‘‘(1) identify construction employers that have

14 high fatality rates or high lost workday injury or ill15 ness rates or who have demonstrated a pattern of

16 noncompliance with safety and health standards,

17 rules, and regulations;

18 ‘‘(2) develop a system for notification of em19 ployers identified under paragraph (1);

20 ‘‘(3) establish training courses and curriculum

21 for the training of inspectors and other persons with

22 duties related to construction safety and health who

23 are employed by the Occupational Safety and Health

24 Administration;
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1 ‘‘(4) establish model compliance programs for

2 construction safety and health standards and assist

3 employers, employees, and organizations represent4 ing employers and employees in establishing training

5 programs appropriate to such standards; and

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

7 complaints, and notifications required under this Act

8 may be made.’’.

9 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH PLANS AND

10 PROGRAMS.

11 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

12 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (as amended by section 2) is further

13 amended by adding after section 30 the following:

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

15 PROGRAMS.

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

17 by regulation, require each construction project to have

18 an individual or entity (hereinafter referred to as the

19 ‘project constructor’) that is responsible for the establish20 ment of the safety and health plan (as described in sub21 section (b)) for such project and for ensuring that the plan

22 is carried out. Such regulations shall require that—

23 ‘‘(1) if only one general or prime contractor ex24 ists on a construction project, such contractor shall

25 be the project constructor, unless such contractor
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1 designates another entity with such entity’s consent

2 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 entity with

7 such entity’s 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) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The plan shall—

17 ‘‘(A) include a hazard analysis and con18 struction process protocol which shall apply to

19 each worksite of the project;

20 ‘‘(B) include assurance that each construc21 tion employer on the project has a safety and

22 health program which complies and is coordi23 nated with the plan and the requirements of

24 subsection (c);
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1 ‘‘(C) provide for regular inspections of the

2 worksite to monitor the implementation of the

3 plan;

4 ‘‘(D) include a method for notifying af5 fected construction employers of any hazardous

6 conditions at a construction worksite or of non7 compliance by an employer with the project

8 safety and health plan;

9 ‘‘(E) include a method for responding to

10 the request of any construction employer, em11 ployee, or employee representative, for an in12 spection of a construction worksite to determine

13 if an imminent danger exists and to stop work

14 at, or remove affected employees from, an area

15 in which such a danger exists;

16 ‘‘(F) provide assurance that a competent

17 person is on site at all times to oversee the im18 plementation of the safety plan and coordinate

19 activities among employers; and

20 ‘‘(G) provide assurance that the plan will

21 be reviewed and modified as the project ad22 dresses new safety concerns.

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

24 be made available to each construction employer
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1 prior to commencement of construction work by that

2 employer.

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, by regula5 tion, may modify the requirements of this section, or

6 portions thereof, as such requirements apply to cer7 tain types of construction work or operations where

8 the Secretary determines that, in light of the nature

9 of the risks faced by employees engaged in such

10 work or operation, such a modification would not re11 duce the employees’ safety and health protection. In

12 making such modification, 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) and (b) can

23 be made, the Secretary shall be given notice as soon

24 as practicable of such work. Compliance with such
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1 requirements shall then be made as soon as prac2 ticable thereafter.’’.

3 SEC. 4. STATE CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH

4 PLANS.

5 Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act

6 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667) is amended by adding at the end

7 the following:

8 ‘‘(i) Any State plan that covers construction safety

9 and health shall contain requirements which, and the en10 forcement of which, are, and will be, at least as effective,

11 in providing safe and healthful employment and places of

12 employment in the construction industry as the require13 ments contained in subsection (c), and the requirements

14 imposed by, and enforced under, this Act and section 107

15 of the Contract Work Hours Standards Act (40 U.S.C.

16 333), including requirements relating to construction safe17 ty and health plans.’’.

18 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

19 (a) CITATIONS.—Section 9(a) of the Occupational

20 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 658(a)) is

21 amended by inserting ‘‘, 8, or 31’’ after ‘‘section 5’’.

22 (b) PROJECT CONSTRUCTORS.—Section 9 of the Oc23 cupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 658)

24 is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section and sections 8, 10,

2 11, and 17 a project constructor shall be considered an

3 employer.’’.

4 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

5 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (as amended by section 3) is further

7 amended by adding after section 31 the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 32. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

9 ‘‘The Secretary shall include in the annual report

10 submitted to the President under section 26 additional in11 formation on the construction industry as such informa12 tion relates to the general subjects described in section 26,

13 including the operation of the Office of Construction Safe14 ty, Health, and Education.

15 SEC. 7. FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.

16 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29

17 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (as amended by section 6) is further

18 amended by adding after section 32 the following:

19 ‘‘SEC. 33. FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.

20 ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this section, the Secretary shall deliver to the

22 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House

23 of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and

24 Human Resources of the Senate recommendations regard25 ing legislative changes required to make the safety records
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1 (including records of compliance with Federal safety and

2 health laws and regulations) of persons bidding for con3 tracts subject to section 107 of the Contract Work Hours

4 and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333) a criterion to

5 be considered in the awarding of such contracts.’’.

6 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

7 Section 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act

8 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652) is amended by adding at the end

9 thereof the following:

10 ‘‘(15) For purposes of sections 30 and 31, the

11 following terms shall have the following meanings:

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

13 means an employer as defined in paragraph (5)

14 (including an employer who has no employees)

15 who is engaged primarily in the building and

16 construction industry or who performs construc17 tion work under a contract with a construction

18 owner, except that a utility providing or receiv19 ing mutual assistance in the case of a natural

20 or man-made disaster shall not be considered a

21 construction employer.

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

23 a person who owns, leases or has effective con24 trol over property with or without improve25 ments, a structure, or other improvement on
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1 real property on which construction work is

2 being, or will be, performed.

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

4 means all construction work by one or more

5 construction employers which is performed for a

6 construction owner and which is described in

7 work orders, permits, requisitions, agreements,

8 and other project documents.

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

10 work for construction, alteration, demolition, or

11 repair, or any combination thereof, including

12 painting and decorating, but does not include

13 work performed under a contract between a

14 construction employer and a homeowner for

15 work on the homeowner’s own residence, or rou16 tine maintenance and upkeep performed at least

17 monthly, and such term shall include work per18 formed under a contract between a construction

19 employer and an agency of the United States or

20 any State or political subdivision of a State.

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

22 means a site within a construction project

23 where construction work is performed by one or

24 more construction employers.’’.
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1 SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING LAW AND REGULA2 TIONS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing contained in the amend4 ments made by this Act or the regulations issued to carry

5 out the amendments shall limit the application of, or less6 en, any of the requirements of the Occupational Safety

7 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), the Con8 tract Work Hours Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 327 et seq.),

9 or the standards or regulations issued by the Secretary

10 of Labor to carry out either such Act.

11 (b) PROJECT CONSTRUCTORS.—The presence and

12 duties of a project constructor or a project safety coordi13 nator on a project shall not in any way diminish the re14 sponsibilities of construction employers under the Occupa15 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et

16 seq.) for the safety and health of their employees.

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