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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1192

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1999

Mr. HEFLEY (for himself, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. SKEEN, Mr.

NORWOOD, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. PAUL, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr.

ISTOOK, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr.

HANSEN, and Mr. NETHERCUTT) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

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.

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

5 ‘‘OSHA Reform Act of 1999’’.

6 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend7 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

8 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

9 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi10 sion of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
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1 SEC. 2. REPEALS.

2 Sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 17 (29 U.S.C. 657,

3 658, 659, 660, 666) are repealed.

4 SEC. 3. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS.

5 (a) STANDARD BASIS.—Paragraph (5) of section 6(b)

6 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(5) The development of standards under this

8 section shall be based upon the latest scientific data

9 in the field and on such research, demonstrations,

10 experiments, and other information as may be ap11 propriate. In establishing such standards, the Sec12 retary shall consider and make findings concerning

13 the appropriateness of the standard to the following

14 factors:

15 ‘‘(A) The standard is needed to address a

16 significant risk of material impairment to work17 ers and will substantially reduce that risk.

18 ‘‘(B) The standard is feasible.

19 ‘‘(C) There is a reasonable relationship be20 tween the costs and benefits of the standard.

21 ‘‘(D) The standard will provide protection

22 to employees in the most cost-effective manner

23 to minimize employment loss due to the stand24 ard in the affected industries.
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1 ‘‘(E) Whenever practicable, the standard

2 shall be expressed in terms of objective criteria

3 and of the performance desired.’’.

4 (b) TOXIC MATERIALS OR HARMFUL PHYSICAL

5 AGENTS.—The second sentence of section 6(g) (29 U.S.C.

6 655(g)) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘In determining

7 the priority for establishing standards dealing with toxic

8 materials or harmful physical agents, the Secretary shall

9 consider the number of workers exposed to the material

10 or agent, the nature and severity of the potential impair11 ment, and the likelihood of such impairment.’’.

12 SEC. 4. NEW PROVISIONS.

13 (a) EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION.—The Act is amend14 ed by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION

16 ‘‘SEC. 33. In order to carry out the purposes of this

17 Act to encourage employers and employees in their efforts

18 to reduce the number of occupational safety and health

19 hazards, an employee participation committee or other

20 mechanism—

21 ‘‘(1) in which employees participate,

22 ‘‘(2) which exists for the purpose, in whole or

23 in part, of dealing with employees concerning the

24 safety or health of working conditions or related

25 matters, and
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1 ‘‘(3) which does not have, claim, or seek author2 ity to negotiate or enter into collective bargaining

3 agreements with an employer or to amend existing

4 collective bargaining agreements between and em5 ployer and any labor organization,

6 shall not constitute a ‘labor organization’ for purposes of

7 section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act or a

8 representative for purposes of sections 1 and 2 of the Rail9 way Labor Act.

10 (b) SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—

11 The Act, as amended by subsection (a), is amended by

12 adding after section 33 the following:

13 ‘‘SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING

14 ‘‘SEC. 34. (a) The Secretary shall establish and im15 plement a program to provide technical assistance and

16 consultative services for employers and employees, either

17 directly or by grant or contract, concerning worksite safety

18 and health and compliance with this Act. Such assistance

19 shall be targeted at small employers and the most haz20 ardous industries.

21 ‘‘(b) This subsection authorizes the consultative serv22 ices to employers provided under cooperative agreements

23 between the States and the Occupational Safety and

24 Health Administration and described in part 1908 of title

25 39 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
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1 ‘‘(c) Not less than one-fourth of the annual appro2 priation made to the Secretary to carry out this Act shall

3 be expended for the purposes described in this section.’’.

4 (c) VOLUNTARY PROTECTION PROGRAM AWARD.—

5 The Act, as amended by subsection (b), is amended by

6 adding after section 34 the following:

7 ‘‘VOLUNTARY PROTECTION PROGRAM AWARD

8 ‘‘SEC. 35. (a) The Secretary shall establish an award

9 which shall periodically be made to companies and other

10 organizations which have implemented particularly effec11 tive approaches to addressing occupational safety and

12 health in the workplace, including those which provide for

13 effective employee involvement in improving safety and

14 health and which are as a consequence deserving of special

15 recognition.

16 ‘‘(b) A company or organization to which an award

17 is made under subsection (a) and which agrees to help

18 other American companies or organizations improve their

19 occupational safety and health may publicize its receipt

20 of such award and use the award in its advertising, but

21 it shall be ineligible to receive another such award in the

22 same category for a period of 5 years.

23 ‘‘(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), separate awards

24 shall be made to qualifying organizations and companies

25 in each of the following categories—

26 ‘‘(A) Small businesses.
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1 ‘‘(B) Other companies or their subsidi2 aries.

3 ‘‘(C) Companies which primarily perform

4 construction work.

5 ‘‘(2) CHANGE IN LIST.—The Secretary may at

6 any time expand, subdivide, or otherwise modify the

7 list of categories within which awards may be made

8 as initially in effect under paragraph (1) and may

9 establish separate awards for other organizations

10 and companies including units of government, upon

11 a determination that the objectives of this section

12 would be better served thereby; except that any such

13 expansion, subdivision, modification, or establish14 ment shall not be effective unless and until the Sec15 retary has submitted a detailed description thereof

16 to the Congress and a period of 30 days has elapsed

17 since that submission.

18 ‘‘(3) Not more than 2 awards may be made

19 within any subcategory in any year (and no award

20 shall be made within any category or subcategory if

21 there are no qualifying enterprises in that category

22 or subcategory).

23 ‘‘(d) An organization or company may qualify for an

24 award under subsection (a) only if it—
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1 ‘‘(1) applies to the Secretary in writing, for the

2 award,

3 ‘‘(2) permits a rigorous evaluation of its occu4 pational safety and health operations, and

5 ‘‘(3) meets such requirements and specifications

6 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to

7 achieve the objectives of this section.

8 In applying paragraph (3) with respect to any organiza9 tion or company, the Secretary shall rely upon an intensive

10 evaluation of the occupational safety and health operation.

11 The examination should encompass all aspects of the orga12 nization’s or company’s current occupational safety and

13 health practice. The award shall be given only to organiza14 tions and companies which have made outstanding im15 provements in their occupational safety and health prac16 tices and which demonstrate effective occupational safety

17 and health practices through the training and involvement

18 of all levels of personnel.

19 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall ensure that all program par20 ticipants receive the complete results of their audits as

21 well as detailed explanations of all suggestions for im22 provements. The Secretary shall also provide information

23 about the awards and the successful quality improvement

24 strategies and programs of the award-winning participants

25 to all participants and other appropriate groups.
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1 ‘‘(f) The Secretary is authorized to seek and accept

2 gifts from public and private sources to carry out the pro3 gram under this section. If additional sums are needed

4 to cover the full cost of the program, the Secretary shall

5 impose fees upon the organizations and companies apply6 ing for the award in amounts sufficient to provide such

7 additional sums.

8 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall prepare and submit to the

9 President and the Congress, within 3 years after the date

10 of the enactment of this section, a report on the progress,

11 findings, and conclusions of activities conducted pursuant

12 to this section along with recommendations for possible

13 modifications thereof.’’.

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