Wind Safety Standard Act of 2022

To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an occupational safety and health standard to protect workers from wind-related injuries. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Wind Safety Standard Act of 2022 2. OSHA safety standard for protection from high winds (a) Proposed standard Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant to section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 655(b) (b) Final standard Not later than 42 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate a final standard on prevention of workplace injury from high winds that shall— (1) provide no less protection than the most protective wind protection standard adopted by a State plan that has been approved by the Secretary under section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 667 (2) be effective and enforceable in the same manner and to the same extent as any standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 655(b) (c) Interim final standard (1) In general If the proposed standard described in subsection (a) is not promulgated not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate an interim final standard on prevention of workplace injury from high winds not later than 2 years and 60 days after such date of enactment— (A) to require covered employers to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace wind protection plan to protect covered employees from excessive winds that may lead to wind-related workplace injuries; and (B) that shall, at a minimum— (i) provide no less protection than the most protective wind protection standard adopted by a State plan that has been approved by the Secretary under section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 667 (ii) include a requirement to protect employees from discrimination or retaliation for exercising the rights of the employees under the interim final standard. (2) Applicability of other statutory requirements The following shall not apply to the promulgation of the interim final standard under this subsection: (A) The requirements applicable to occupational safety and health standards under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 655(b) (B) The requirements of section 553(c) of chapter 5 and chapter 6 (C) The requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (3) Effective date of interim standard The interim final standard shall— (A) take effect on a date that is not later than 30 days after the promulgation of such standard, except that such interim final standard may include a reasonable phase-in period for the implementation of required engineering controls that take effect after such date; (B) be enforced in the same manner and to the same extent as any standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 655(b) (C) be in effect until the final standard described in subsection (b) becomes effective and enforceable. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Covered employee The term covered employee (2) Covered employer The term covered employer (A) means an employer that employs an individual to work at a covered workplace; and (B) includes a contractor, subcontractor, a temporary service firm, or an employee leasing entity. (3) Covered workplace The term covered workplace (A) any workplace in which covered employees perform services for a covered employer outdoors during high winds; and (B) any workplace in which covered employees perform services for a covered employer indoors in any case in which such covered employees may be at risk during an extreme weather event involving high winds. (4) Employer The term employer 29 U.S.C. 652 (5) High winds The term high winds (A) The winds could blow an employee from an elevated location. (B) The winds could cause an employee or equipment handling material to lose control of the material. (C) The winds would expose an employee to other hazards not controlled by the standard involved. Winds exceeding 64.4 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour), or 48.3 kilometers per hour (30 miles per hour) if the work involves material handling, shall be presumed to be of such velocity unless the employer takes precautions to protect employees from the hazardous effects of the winds. (6) Secretary The term Secretary 4. Requirements for final standard on prevention of occupational exposure to high winds (a) In general The final standard promulgated under section 2(b) shall, at a minimum, include the requirements described in subsection (b) with respect to covered employers. (b) Requirements The final standard promulgated under section 2(b) shall, with respect to covered employers, include the following: (1) Monitoring of wind conditions A covered employer shall monitor wind conditions using data from the National Weather Service. (2) Employees working outdoors during high winds With respect to each covered employee who performs services for a covered employer outdoors during high winds— (A) such employee shall receive training in work with high winds, including training relating to— (i) the impact on work at heights; (ii) the impact of wind on certain equipment such as lifts, cranes, scaffolding, ladders, and mobile elevated work platforms; (iii) the risk of foreign object debris; and (iv) the impact of wind on exposed skin and the risk of wind burn; (B) such employee shall not be required to work in high winds without a safety harness system, tie-off restraints, or other appropriate safety equipment; (C) such employee shall not be required to use any equipment that is not rated for the level of high winds in which the employee is requested to work; (D) (i) such employee shall have the right to refuse to work in high winds and be assigned alternate work without penalty in any case in which the employee determines that high wind safety procedures are inadequate to mitigate the risk of such work; and (ii) in any such case, the employer shall conduct a hazard assessment and immediately investigate and correct any identified hazards and implement any control measures as necessary to adequately mitigate such risks; (E) such employee— (i) shall be instructed on how to properly secure all tools and any other object that could act as foreign object debris; (ii) may not be required to work in high winds if all such objects cannot be secured; and (iii) shall be provided with proper personal protective equipment including eye protection while working in high winds; and (F) such employee— (i) shall receive training on wind burn prevention, identification, and treatment; and (ii) shall be provided by the employer with personal protective equipment at no cost to the employee to prevent wind burn, except to the extent such equipment would result in a net increase of hazards to the employee. (3) Employees working indoors and outdoors during extreme weather events involving high winds With respect to each covered employee who performs services for a covered employer indoors or outdoors in any case in which such covered employee may be at risk during an extreme weather event involving high winds, the covered employer shall— (A) develop, implement, and maintain a wind emergency plan for each such employee, similar to an emergency action plan described under section 1910.38 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, which shall include— (i) an evacuation plan which details employer and employee responsibilities; (ii) a shelter in place plan, including a plan for mobile workforce and employees at remote or satellite locations; (iii) specific plans for extreme weather events such as tornadoes and hurricanes that include a trigger to activate such plans and appropriate training and drills; (iv) specific plans for high-risk buildings and mobile worksites (such as vehicles or trailers), to be updated as needed upon remodeling; and (v) job protections for employees who evacuate due to unsafe conditions; (B) conduct a hazard assessment to identify unsafe working conditions or hazardous equipment that can be impacted when extreme weather advisories are issued; and (C) ensure that emergency shelters are designed and built to industry best practices for performance criteria like Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes (FEMA P–361) or ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC–500). (4) Training and education (A) Employee Training A covered employer shall provide annual training and education to covered employees who may be exposed to high winds, which shall cover the following topics: (i) Personal factors that may increase susceptibility to high winds. (ii) Signs and symptoms of wind-related injury. (iii) Engineering control measures. (iv) Administrative control measures. (v) Emergency response procedures. (vi) Employee rights. (B) Supervisor Training In addition to the training and education required in subparagraph (A), training and education shall be provided annually to covered employees who are supervisors that shall cover the following topics: (i) The procedures a supervisor is required to follow under this Act. (ii) How to recognize high-risk situations, including how to monitor weather reports and weather advisories, and not assigning an employee to situations that predictably compromise the safety of the employee. (C) General training requirements The education and training provided under this paragraph to covered employees shall meet the following: (i) In the case of such an employee whose job circumstances have changed, within a reasonable timeframe after such change of job circumstances, education and training shall be provided that shall be— (I) in addition to the education and training provided under clause (ii), subparagraph (A), and, if applicable to such employee, subparagraph (B); and (II) applicable to such change of job circumstances. (ii) Applicable education and training shall be provided for each new covered employee prior to the employee’s job assignment. (iii) The education and training shall provide such employees opportunities to ask questions, give feedback, and request additional instruction, clarification, or other follow-up. (iv) The education and training shall be provided by an individual with knowledge of wind injury prevention and of the plan of the employer under this section. (v) The education and training shall be appropriate in content and vocabulary to the language, educational level, and literacy of such covered employees. (5) Recordkeeping Each covered employer shall— (A) comply with all requirements under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 relating to the reporting of wind-related injuries; (B) maintain at all times— (i) records related to each plan of the employer under paragraph (1), including high wind risk and hazard assessments, and identification, evaluation, correction, and training procedures; (ii) data on all wind-related injuries and deaths; and (iii) data on environmental and physiological measurements related to high winds; and (C) make such records and data available, upon request, to covered employees and their representatives for examination and copying in accordance with section 1910.1020 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act). (6) Whistleblower protections (A) Policy Each covered employer shall adopt a policy prohibiting any person (including an agent of the employer) from discriminating or retaliating against any employee for— (i) exercising the rights of the employee under this Act; or (ii) reporting violations of the standard to any local, State, or Federal government. (B) Prohibition No covered employer shall discriminate or retaliate against any employee for— (i) reporting a high wind-related concern to, or seeking assistance or intervention with respect to high wind-related health symptoms from, the employer, local emergency services, or a local, State, or Federal government; or (ii) exercising any other rights of the employee under this Act. (C) Enforcement This paragraph shall be enforced in the same manner and to the same extent as any standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 655(b)

Summary: Wind Safety Standard Act of 2022 This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a standard for preventing workplace injuries caused by high winds (i.e., winds of such velocity that the winds could blow an employee from an elevated location, cause an employee to lose control of equipment or material, or expose an employee to other hazards).