I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2235
To authorize the Secretary of Labor to establish voluntary protection
programs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 19, 2001
Mr. PETRI (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. ISAKSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr.
PAUL, Mr. LAHOOD, and Mr. HUTCHINSON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Labor to establish voluntary
protection programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Models of Safety and
Health Excellence Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Since 1982, the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration has conducted voluntary pro-
tection programs designed to recognize excellence in
occupational safety and health.
(2) Such programs have fostered partnerships
between employers, employees, and the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration to improve work-
place safety and health through the implementation
of effective safety and health programs.
(3) Employers participating in such programs
provide their employees with a level of protection
that substantially exceeds the level of protection pro-
vided by compliance with the requirements of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29
U.S.C. 651 et seq.).
(4) As a result of these efforts, employers par-
ticipating in such programs have experienced injury
and illness rates that are on average less than half
of their respective industry averages, sparing thou-
sands of America’s working families needless work-
place tragedies.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol-
lowing:
(1) To recognize the exemplary leadership of
voluntary protection programs participants in im-
proving occupational safety and health at work-
places;
(2) To encourage other employers to adopt such
approaches to protect their workers; and
(3) To codify such programs to ensure that the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration con-
tinues to develop them in the future.
SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PROTECTION PROGRAMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor or the
Secretary’s authorized representative shall establish and
carry out voluntary protection programs (hereinafter in
this section referred to as ‘‘programs’’) to promote and
recognize the achievement of worksites that demonstrate
excellence in workplace health and safety. The Secretary
may choose, in limited situations, to alter the application
requirements in order to expand the scope of worksites
participating in the programs to include nonstandard
worksites such as short-term construction sites and mobile
worksites. The Secretary shall encourage the participants
in the programs to share occupational safety and health
expertise with other employers. The Secretary shall also
encourage the participation of small business (as that
term is defined by the Administrator of the Small Busi-
ness Administration) in the programs by implementing
outreach and assistance initiatives in cooperation with pro-
gram participants and shall develop program requirements
that address the needs of small businesses. The Secretary
(E) safety and health program evaluation.
(2) ONSITE EVALUATIONS.—There shall be on-
site evaluations of each permanent worksite by rep-
resentatives of the Secretary and others from the
private and public sector as determined by the Sec-
retary.
(3) INFORMATION.—Employers who are ap-
proved by the Secretary for participation in a pro-
gram shall assure the Secretary that such informa-
tion as is necessary to evaluate the employer’s appli-
cation and continued participation in the program is
made available to the Secretary.
(4) REEVALUATIONS.—Periodic reevaluations
by the Secretary shall be required for continued par-
ticipation in a program.
(c) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—
(1) EXEMPTIONS.—A worksite which has been
selected to participate in a program shall, while par-
ticipating in the program, be exempt from inspec-
tions or investigations under the Occupational Safe-
ty and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.),
except that the exemption shall not apply to inspec-
tions or investigations arising from employee com-
plaints, fatalities, catastrophes, or significant toxic
releases.