(1) the duty to make and maintain accurate 
records of work-related injuries and illnesses is an 
ongoing obligation; 
(2) the duty to make and maintain such records 
continues for as long as the employer is required to 
keep records of the recordable injury or illness; and 
(3) such duty does not expire solely because the 
employer fails to create the necessary records when 
first required to do so. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION.—Subsection (a) shall be consid-
ered a specific authorization by Congress in accordance 
with section 801(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, with 
respect to the issuance of a new recordkeeping rule. 
PART C—CITATIONS 
SEC. 321. PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE OF A CITATION. 
Section 9(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 658(c)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ‘‘For purposes of this subsection, 
a violation continues to occur for as long as an employer 
has not satisfied the requirements, rules, standards, or-
ders, and regulations referenced in subsection (a).’’. 
SEC. 322. PROHIBITION ON UNCLASSIFIED CITATIONS. 
Section 9 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 658) is further amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
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‘‘(d) No citation for a violation of this Act may be 
issued, modified, or settled under this section without a 
designation enumerated in section 17 with respect to such 
violation.’’. 
PART D—RIGHTS OF VICTIMS AND FAMILIES 
SEC. 331. RIGHTS OF VICTIMS AND FAMILIES. 
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
9 (29 U.S.C. 658) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 9A. VICTIMS’ RIGHTS. 
‘‘(a) RIGHTS BEFORE THE SECRETARY.—A victim or 
the representative of a victim, shall be afforded the right, 
with respect to an inspection or investigation conducted 
under section 8 to— 
‘‘(1) meet with the Secretary regarding the in-
spection or investigation conducted under such sec-
tion before the Secretary’s decision to issue a cita-
tion or take no action; 
‘‘(2) receive, at no cost, a copy of any citation 
or report, issued as a result of such inspection or in-
vestigation, at the same time as the employer re-
ceives such citation or report; 
‘‘(3) be informed of any notice of contest or ad-
dition of parties to the proceedings filed under sec-
tion 10(c); and 
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‘‘(4) be provided notification of the date and 
time or any proceedings, service of pleadings, and 
other relevant documents, and an explanation of the 
rights of the employer, employee and employee rep-
resentative, and victim to participate in proceedings 
conducted under section 10(c). 
‘‘(b) RIGHTS BEFORE THE COMMISSION.—Upon re-
quest, a victim or representative of a victim shall be af-
forded the right with respect to a work-related bodily in-
jury or death to— 
‘‘(1) be notified of the time and date of any 
proceeding before the Commission; 
‘‘(2) receive pleadings and any decisions relat-
ing to the proceedings; and 
‘‘(3) be provided an opportunity to appear and 
make a statement in accordance with the rules pre-
scribed by the Commission. 
‘‘(c) MODIFICATION OF CITATION.—Before entering 
into an agreement to withdraw or modify a citation issued 
as a result of an inspection or investigation of an incident 
under section 8, the Secretary shall notify a victim or rep-
resentative of a victim and provide the victim or represent-
ative of a victim with an opportunity to appear and make 
a statement before the parties conducting settlement nego-
tiations. In lieu of an appearance, the victim or represent-
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ative of the victim may elect to submit a letter to the Sec-
retary and the parties. 
‘‘(d) SECRETARY PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall 
establish procedures— 
‘‘(1) to inform victims of their rights under this 
section; and 
‘‘(2) for the informal review of any claim of a 
denial of such a right. 
‘‘(e) COMMISSION
PROCEDURES
AND
CONSIDER-
ATIONS.—The Commission shall— 
‘‘(1) establish procedures relating to the rights 
of victims to be heard in proceedings before the 
Commission; and 
‘‘(2) in rendering any decision, provide due con-
sideration to any statement or information provided 
by any victim before the Commission. 
‘‘(f) FAMILY LIAISONS.—The Secretary shall des-
ignate at least 1 employee at each area office of the Occu-
pational Safety and Health Administration to serve as a 
family liaison to— 
‘‘(1) keep victims informed of the status of in-
vestigations, enforcement actions, and settlement ne-
gotiations; and 
‘‘(2) assist victims in asserting their rights 
under this section. 
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‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘victim’ 
means— 
‘‘(1) an employee, including a former employee, 
who has sustained a work-related injury or illness 
that is the subject of an inspection or investigation 
conducted under section 8; or 
‘‘(2) a family member (as further defined by 
the Secretary) of a victim described in paragraph 
(1), if— 
‘‘(A) the victim dies as a result of an inci-
dent that is the subject of an inspection or in-
vestigation conducted under section 8; or 
‘‘(B) the victim sustains a work-related in-
jury or illness that is the subject of an inspec-
tion or investigation conducted under section 8, 
and the victim because of incapacity cannot rea-
sonably exercise the rights under this section.’’. 
PART E—PROCEDURE FOR ENFORCEMENT 
SEC. 341. RIGHT TO CONTEST CITATIONS AND PENALTIES. 
Section 10(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 659(c)) is amended— 
(1) in the first sentence— 
(A) by inserting after ‘‘that he intends to 
contest a citation issued under section (9)’’ the 
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following: ‘‘(or a modification of a citation 
issued under this section)’’; 
(B) by inserting after ‘‘the issuance of a 
citation under section 9’’ the following: ‘‘(in-
cluding a modification of a citation issued 
under such section)’’; and 
(C) by inserting after ‘‘files a notice with 
the Secretary alleging’’ the following: ‘‘that the 
citation fails properly to designate the violation 
as serious, willful, or repeated, that the pro-
posed penalty is not adequate, or’’; 
(2) by inserting after the first sentence, the fol-
lowing: ‘‘The pendency of a contest before the Com-
mission shall not bar the Secretary from inspecting 
a place of employment or from issuing a citation 
under section 9.’’; and 
(3) by amending the last sentence— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘employers and’’ after 
‘‘Commission shall provide’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the period at the 
end ‘‘, and notification of any modification of a 
citation’’. 
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‘‘(A) MOTION FOR A STAY.—An employer 
that receives a citation alleging a violation des-
ignated as serious, willful, or repeated and that 
files a notice of contest to the citation asserting 
that the time set for abatement of the alleged 
violation is unreasonable or challenging the ex-
istence of the alleged violation may file with the 
Commission a motion to stay the period for the 
abatement of the violation. 
‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—In determining whether 
a stay should be issued on the basis of a motion 
filed under subparagraph (A), the Commission 
may grant a stay only if the employer has dem-
onstrated— 
‘‘(i) a substantial likelihood of success 
on the areas contested under subparagraph 
(A); and 
‘‘(ii) that a stay will not adversely af-
fect the health and safety of workers. 
‘‘(C) RULES OF PROCEDURE.—The Com-
mission shall develop rules of procedure for con-
ducting a hearing on a motion filed under sub-
paragraph (A) on an expedited basis. At a min-
imum, such rules shall provide: 
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‘‘(i) That a hearing before an admin-
istrative law judge shall occur not later 
than 15 days following the filing of the 
motion for a stay (unless extended at the 
request of the employer), and shall provide 
for a decision on the motion not later than 
15 days following the hearing (unless ex-
tended at the request of the employer). 
‘‘(ii) That a decision of an administra-
tive law judge on a motion for stay is ren-
dered on a timely basis. 
‘‘(iii) That if a party is aggrieved by 
a decision issued by an administrative law 
judge regarding the stay, such party has 
the right to file an objection with the Com-
mission not later than 5 days after receipt 
of the administrative law judge’s decision. 
Within 10 days after receipt of the objec-
tion, a Commissioner, if a quorum is seat-
ed pursuant to section 12(f), shall decide 
whether to grant review of the objection. 
If, within 10 days after receipt of the ob-
jection, no decision is made on whether to 
review the decision of the administrative 
law judge, the Commission declines to re-
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view such decision, or no quorum is seated, 
the decision of the administrative law 
judge shall become a final order of the 
Commission. If the Commission grants re-
view of the objection, the Commission shall 
issue a decision regarding the stay not 
later than 30 days after receipt of the ob-
jection. If the Commission fails to issue 
such decision within 30 days, the decision 
of the administrative law judge shall be-
come a final order of the Commission. 
‘‘(iv) For notification to employees or 
representatives of affected employees of re-
quests for such hearings and shall provide 
affected employees or representatives of af-
fected employees an opportunity to partici-
pate as parties to such hearings.’’. 
SEC. 343. INACTION BY THE REVIEW COMMISSION. 
Section 10 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 659), as amended by sections 341 and 
342, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) INACTION BY REVIEW COMMISSION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A decision or order issued 
by an administrative law judge of the Commission 
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for which a petition for review has been filed in a 
timely manner, and for which 1 year after the Com-
mission has accepted such petition and directed that 
such petition be reviewed by the Commission, the 
Commission has failed to issue a final decision or 
order because the Commission lacks a quorum— 
‘‘(A) shall be deemed a final decision or 
order of the Commission; and 
‘‘(B) may be appealed pursuant to section 
11(a). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply with respect to motions to stay filed under 
subsection (d)(3).’’. 
SEC. 344. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
(a) VIOLATIONS DESIGNATED AS SERIOUS, WILL-
FUL, OR REPEATED.—The first sentence of section 10(b) 
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 659(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, with the excep-
tion of violations designated as serious, willful, or re-
peated,’’ after ‘‘(which period shall not begin to run’’. 
(b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The first sentence of section 
11(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
(29 U.S.C. 660(a)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(or the failure of the Commis-
sion, including an administrative law judge, to make 
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a timely decision on a petition for a stay or other 
review)’’ after ‘‘an order’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and inserting 
‘‘subsection (c), (d), or (e)’’; and 
(3) by inserting ‘‘(or in the case of a petition 
from a final Commission order regarding a stay 
under section 10(d), 15 days)’’ after ‘‘sixty days’’. 
(c) FAILURE TO CORRECT VIOLATIONS.—Section 
17(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
(29 U.S.C. 666(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) Any employer who fails to correct a violation 
designated by the Secretary as serious, willful, or repeated 
and for which a citation has been issued under section 9(a) 
within the period permitted for its correction (and a stay 
has not been issued by the Commission under section 
10(d)) may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than 
$7,000 for each day during which such failure or violation 
continues. Any employer who fails to correct any other vio-
lation for which a citation has been issued under section 
9(a) of this title within the period permitted for its correc-
tion (which period shall not begin to run until the date 
of the final order of the Commission in the case of any 
review proceeding under section 10 initiated by the em-
ployer in good faith and not solely for delay of avoidance 
of penalties) may be assessed a civil penalty of not more 
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than $7,000 for each day during which such failure or vio-
lation continues.’’. 
PART F—PENALTIES 
SEC. 351. CIVIL PENALTIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17 of the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 666) is further 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘$70,000’’ and inserting 
‘‘$700,000’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 
‘‘$50,000’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In 
determining whether a violation is repeated, the 
Secretary or the Commission shall consider the 
employer’s history of violations under this Act 
and under State occupational safety and health 
plans established under section 18.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$7,000’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$70,000’’; 
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$7,000’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$15,625’’; 
(4) in subsection (d), as amended by section 
344(c), by striking ‘‘$7,000’’ inserting ‘‘$70,000’’; 
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