H. R. 2864
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
An Act
To require the Secretary of Labor to establish a program under which employers
may consult with State officials respecting compliance with occupational safety
and health requirements.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Occupational Safety and Health
Administration Compliance Assistance Authorization Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
Section 21 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall establish and support cooperative
agreements with the States under which employers subject to this
Act may consult with State personnel with respect to—
‘‘(A) the application of occupational safety and health
requirements under this Act or under State plans approved
under section 18; and
‘‘(B) voluntary efforts that employers may undertake to
establish and maintain safe and healthful employment and
places of employment.
Such agreements may provide, as a condition of receiving funds
under such agreements, for contributions by States towards meeting
the costs of such agreements.
‘‘(2) Pursuant to such agreements the State shall provide on-
site consultation at the employer’s worksite to employers who
request such assistance. The State may also provide other education
and training programs for employers and employees in the State.
The State shall ensure that on-site consultations conducted pursu-
ant to such agreements include provision for the participation by
employees.
‘‘(3) Activities under this subsection shall be conducted
independently of any enforcement activity. If an employer fails
to take immediate action to eliminate employee exposure to an
imminent danger identified in a consultation or fails to correct
a serious hazard so identified within a reasonable time, a report
shall be made to the appropriate enforcement authority for such
action as is appropriate.
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall, by regulation after notice and oppor-
tunity for comment, establish rules under which an employer—
‘‘(A) which requests and undergoes an on-site consultative
visit provided under this subsection;
H. R. 2864—2
‘‘(B) which corrects the hazards that have been identified
during the visit within the time frames established by the
State and agrees to request a subsequent consultative visit
if major changes in working conditions or work processes occur
which introduce new hazards in the workplace; and
‘‘(C) which is implementing procedures for regularly identi-
fying and preventing hazards regulated under this Act and
maintains appropriate involvement of, and training for,
management and non-management employees in achieving safe
and healthful working conditions,
may be exempt from an inspection (except an inspection requested
under section 8(f ) or an inspection to determine the cause of a
workplace accident which resulted in the death of one or more
employees or hospitalization for three or more employees) for a
period of 1 year from the closing of the consultative visit.
‘‘(5) A State shall provide worksite consultations under para-
graph (2) at the request of an employer. Priority in scheduling
such consultations shall be assigned to requests from small
businesses which are in higher hazard industries or have the most
hazardous conditions at issue in the request.’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.