I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 750

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 31, 1995

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Economic and Educational Affairs

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 1995’’.

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
2

•HR 750 IH

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 PURPOSES.

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-
3

•HR 750 IH

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 shall issue a

15 final regulation establishing, as occupational safety and

16 health standards, uniform warnings for personal protec17 tive equipment for occupational use.

18 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this Act—

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

20 means equipment intended for use by workers in a

21 workplace subject to this Act, which equipment is in22 tended to protect the eyes, face, head, hearing ex23 tremities, or respiratory tract from workplace haz24 ards, to function as protective clothing, as a protec25 tive shield or barrier, as personal fall arrest or lad-
4

•HR 750 IH

1 der safety devices, or as safety and health monitor2 ing and instrumentation devices; and

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

4 directing or describing one or more actions, proce5 dures, or prohibitions relating to the use of personal

6 protective equipment, which statement, if not com7 plied with, may result in personal injury or death to

8 the user of the equipment.

9 ‘‘(3) Each standard promulgated under paragraph

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

11 in such paragraph and the means by which the manufac12 turer or other seller of the personal protective equipment

13 shall communicate each such warning to the employer

14 using such equipment.

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

16 personal protective equipment shall—

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

18 prescribed warning to each employee using the per19 sonal protective equipment, and to train, educate

20 and instruct each such employee in—

21 ‘‘(i) the proper use of such personal protec22 tive equipment;

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

24 such employer’s workplace and such employee’s

25 work environment; and
5

•HR 750 IH

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

2 each such warning;

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

4 on which such standards is published in the Federal

5 Register; and

6 ‘‘(C) exempt from coverage under such stand7 ard warnings for personal protective equipment

8 placed in interstate commerce by its manufacturer

9 before the date such standard becomes effective un10 less such manufacturer or other seller of such equip11 ment communicates the prescribed warnings to the

12 employer using the equipment as required in such

13 standard.

14 ‘‘(5) The Secretary, in promulgating standards pur15 suant to paragraph (1), shall consider such factors as the

16 experience of manufacturers using particular warnings

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

18 as human factors and the opinions of workers and experts

19 as to the effectiveness of such warnings and respective

20 means of communication, which information on such fac21 tors and opinions shall be submitted as written data and

22 comments during submission under subsection (b)(2) of

23 this section.’’.
6

•HR 750 IH

1 SEC. 6. PREEMPTION.

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

3 amended by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(c) Nothing is this section shall be construed to ne5 gate the intent of Congress to occupy or regulate the en6 tire field of warnings for personal protective equipment for

7 occupational use.’’.

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

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

10 subsection:

11 ‘‘(i)(1) After an occupational safety and health stand12 ard issued under section 6(h) becomes effective, no State,

13 or political subdivision of a State, may, by legislation, reg14 ulation, court decision, or otherwise establish or continue

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

16 any personal protective equipment which has the force and

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

18 any requirement set forth in any occupational safety and

19 health standard promulgated by the Secretary under sec20 tion 6(h).

21 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection

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

23 by a State under subsection (b) of this section, or any

24 modification thereof, if such plan includes any require25 ment which is different from, or is in addition to, any re26 quirement set forth in any occupational safety and health
7

•HR 750 IH

1 standard promulgated by the Secretary under section

2 6(h).’’.

Æ