I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1327 

To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to complete 

its rulemaking on Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment 

for workers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2007 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

to complete its rulemaking on Employer Payment for 

Personal Protective Equipment for workers. 

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 ‘‘Protective Equipment 

5 for America’s Workers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The use of personal protective equipment 

9 (PPE), such as respirators, chemical resistant clothVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:13 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1327.IH H1327

bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1327 IH

1 ing, metal mesh gloves, lifelines and lanyards, safety 

2 glasses, and face shields substantially reduces the fa3 talities and injuries among the Nation’s workers. 

4 (2) An estimated 20 million workers use PPE 

5 on a regular basis to protect them from job hazards. 

6 (3) In some jobs, including many low-wage jobs 

7 dominated by immigrant workers, personal protec8 tive equipment is a worker’s principal protection 

9 from harm. 

10 (4) Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

11 show that in 2005 there were over 4 million non12 fatal injuries in the private sector and over 5,700 fa13 talities. 

14 (5) In 1999, the Occupational Safety and 

15 Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a rule to 

16 require employers to pay for PPE needed to protect 

17 workers exposed to hazards on the job. 

18 (6) The proposed rule did not impose new obli19 gations on employers to provide PPE, but simply 

20 clarified their responsibility to pay for it. 

21 (7) According to OSHA, the PPE rule would 

22 prevent nearly 48,000 injuries and as many as 7 fa23 talities each year. 

24 (8) OSHA first estimated that the final PPE 

25 rule would be issued in 2000, but the agency missed 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1327 IH

1 that deadline and has missed the subsequent dead2 lines announced in its semi-annual regulatory agen3 da in 2004, 2005, and 2006. 

4 (9) Since 1999, when OSHA first proposed the 

5 PPE rule, workers have suffered almost 400,000 in6 juries and more than 50 deaths that could have been 

7 prevented had the rule been issued, according to 

8 OSHA estimates. 

9 SEC. 3. OSHA RULEMAKING ON PERSONAL PROTECTIVE 

10 EQUIPMENT. 

11 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later 

12 than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary of Labor shall issue a final rule under the Occupa14 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 

15 seq.) on Employer Payment for Personal Protective 

16 Equipment, which shall provide no less protection to em17 ployees and shall have no further exceptions from the em18 ployer payment requirement than the proposed rule pub19 lished in the Federal Register on March 31, 1999. 

Æ 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS