SEC. 5. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO VOLUNTARY SAFETY
AND HEALTH ACTIVITIES.
Section 4 (29 U.S.C. 653) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(c) In order to carry out the purposes of this Act
to encourage employer and employees in their efforts to
reduce the number of occupational safety and health haz-
ards—
‘‘(1) employee participation, including through
committees, teams, or any other arrangement—
‘‘(A) which exists for the purpose, in whole
or in part, of dealing with the employer con-
cerning the safety or health of working condi-
tions or related matters, and
‘‘(B) which does not have, claim, or seek
authority to be the exclusive bargaining rep-
resentative of the employees or to negotiate or
enter into collective bargaining agreements with
the employer or to amend existing collective
bargaining agreements between the employer
and any labor organization,
shall not constitute a ‘labor organization’ for pur-
poses of section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act or a representative for purposes of sections
1 and 2 of the Railway Labor Act, and
‘‘(2) records, reports, or other information pre-
pared in connection with safety and health inspec-
tions, audits, or reviews conducted by or for an em-
ployer and not required by this Act shall not be dis-
closed in any inspection, investigation, or enforce-
ment proceeding pursuant to this Act.’’.
SEC. 6. INSPECTIONS.
(a) EMPLOYEE-EMPLOYER COOPERATION.—Section
8(f)(1) (29 U.S.C. 657(f)(1)) is amended to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(f)(1) Any employee who believes that a violation of
a safety or health standard exists that threatens physical
harm, or that an imminent danger exists, may, if the em-
ployee has brought the violation or danger to the attention
of the employer and the employer has failed or refused
to correct the violation or danger, request an inspection
by giving notice to the Secretary or the Secretary’s author-
ized representative of such violation or danger. Any such
notice shall set forth with reasonable particularity the
grounds for the notice, including a description of the ef-
forts which the employee has made with the employer to
have the violation or danger corrected, and a copy shall
be provided to the employer no later than at the time of
inspection. If upon receipt of such notification the Sec-
retary determines that there are reasonable grounds to be-
lieve that such violation or danger exists and that the em-
ployer has failed to correct the violation or danger, the
Secretary shall make an inquiry with the employer and
may make a special inspection in accordance with the pro-
visions of this section to determine if such violation or
danger exists. Any such inspection shall be conducted for
the limited purpose of determining whether such violation
or danger exists. If the Secretary determines there are no
reasonable grounds to believe a violation or danger exists,
the Secretary shall notify the employees in writing of such
determination.’’.
(b) INSPECTION
TRAINING
AND
FIRE
PROTEC-
TION.—Section 8 is amended by redesignating subsection
(g) as subsection (j) and by inserting after subsection (f)
the following:
‘‘(g) Inspections conducted under this section shall
be conducted by at least one individual who has technical
expertise by training or experience in the industry or types
of hazards being inspected.
‘‘(h) The Secretary shall enter into agreements with
other Federal agencies and with States to train inspection
personnel of agencies which conduct inspections of employ-
ers to inspect places of employment to determine if em-
ployee fire protection is adequate and shall establish a sys-
tem for referral of fire hazards to the Secretary after noti-
fication to the employer, if the employer fails to take cor-
rective actions.’’.
(c) SMALL BUSINESS INSPECTIONS.—Section 8, as
amended by subsection (b), is further amended by adding
at the end the following:
‘‘(i)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Sec-
retary shall not conduct routine inspections of, or enforce
any standard, rule, regulation, or order under this Act
with respect to—
‘‘(A) any person who is engaged in a farming
operation which does not maintain a temporary
labor camp and is employing 10 or fewer employees,
or
‘‘(B) any employer of not more than 50 employ-
ees if such employer is included within a category of
employers having an occupational injury or a lost
work day case rate (determined under the Standard
Industrial Classification Code for which such rates
are published) which is less than the national aver-
age rate as most recently published by the Secretary
acting through the Bureau of Labor Statistics under
section 25.
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall, in the case of persons who
are not engaged in farming operations, not prevent the
Secretary from—
‘‘(A) providing under this Act consultations,
technical assistance, and educational and training
services and conducting under this Act surveys and
studies;
‘‘(B) conducting inspections required under sec-
tion 28(a) or conducting inspections or investiga-
tions in response to employee’s complaints as pro-
vided in section 8(f), issuing warnings for violations
of this Act found during such an inspection, and is-
suing citations and assessing a penalty for violations
which are not corrected within a reasonable abate-
ment period consistent with subsections (a) and (b)
of section 9;
‘‘(C) taking any action authorized by this Act
with respect to imminent dangers;
‘‘(D) taking any action authorized by this Act
with respect to health standards;
‘‘(E) taking any action authorized by this Act
with respect to a report of an employment accident
which is fatal to at least one employee or which re-
sults in hospitalization of at least 3 employees and
taking any action pursuant to an investigation of
such report; and
‘‘(F) taking any action authorized by this Act
with respect to complaints of discrimination against
employees for exercising their rights under this
Act.’’.
SEC. 7. EMPLOYER DEFENSES.
Section 9 (29 U.S.C. 658), as amended by section
3, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(f) No citation with respect to an alleged violation
may be issued under subsection (b) to an employer unless
the employer knew or with the exercise of reasonable dili-
gence would have known of the presence of such alleged
violation. No citation shall be issued under subsection (b)
to an employer for an alleged violation of any standard,
rule, or order promulgated pursuant to section 6, or any
other regulation promulgated under this Act if such em-
ployer demonstrates that—
‘‘(1) employees of such employer have been pro-
vided with any training and equipment required by
the standard or rule at issue;
‘‘(2) work rules designed to prevent such a vio-
lation have been established and communicated to
employees by such employer and the employer has
taken reasonable measures to implement such work
rules and to discipline employees when violations of
such work rules have been discovered; and
‘‘(3) the failure of employees to observe work
rules led to the violation.
‘‘(g) A citation issued under subsection (b) to an em-
ployer who violates the requirements of any standard, rule,
or order promulgated pursuant to section 6 or any other
regulation promulgated under this Act shall be vacated if
such employer demonstrates that employees of such em-
ployer were protected by alternative methods substantially
equal or more protective of the employee’s safety and
health than those required by such standard, rule, order,
or regulation in the factual circumstances underlying the
citation.
‘‘(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
compliance with a requirement under this Act or any other
Federal regulatory requirement designed to protect human
health or safety shall be a defense against a citation or
any civil or administrative action for a violation of a re-
quirement under this or any other law, where the require-
ments under the 2 laws are potentially in conflict. For
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘potentially in con-
flict’ means a requirement that overlaps with, is inconsist-
ent with, or conflicts with, a requirement under this Act,
and includes labeling requirements for the same product
and training requirements that are related to the same
hazard.
‘‘(i) Subsections (f), (g), and (h) shall not be con-
strued to eliminate or modify other defenses which may
exist to any citation.’’.
SEC. 8. PENALTIES.
(a) ELIMINATION OF ‘‘WILLFUL AND REPEATED’’
AUTHORITY.—Section 17 (29 U.S.C. 666) is amended by
striking subsection (a) (relating to willful and repeated
violations), by redesignating subsection (k) (relating to the
definition of serious violations) as subsection (a), and by
redesignating subsection (l) as subsection (k).
(b) CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING PENALTIES.—Section
17(j) (29 U.S.C. 666(j)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(j) The Commission shall have authority to assess
all civil penalties provided in this section, giving due con-
sideration to the appropriateness of the penalty with re-
spect to—
‘‘(1) the size of the employer,
‘‘(2) the number of employees exposed to the
violation,
‘‘(3) the likely severity of any injuries directly
resulting from such violation,
‘‘(4) the probability that the violation could re-
sult in injury or illness,
‘‘(5) the employer’s good faith, including cor-
recting the violation after it has been identified,
‘‘(6) the extent to which employee misconduct
was responsible for the violation, and
‘‘(7) the effect of the penalty on the employer’s
ability to stay in business.
The Commission shall not assess a penalty greater than
that proposed by the Secretary. A civil penalty assessed
under this section may be reduced by the cost to the em-
ployer of correcting the violation to which the penalty ap-
plies.’’.
(c) SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS.—Section 17 (29 U.S.C.
666), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by adding
at the end the following:
‘‘(l) The Secretary may propose that a special assess-
ment be applied in the following circumstances:
‘‘(1) Fatalities of employees caused by viola-
tions of standards issued under section 6.
‘‘(2) An excessive history of serious injuries to
employees caused by violations of standards issued
under section 6.
When the Secretary determines that a special assessment
is appropriate, the Secretary may propose a multiplier,
based on the factors listed in subsection (j), of not greater
than 10 to the penalty determined under subsection (b).’’.
(d) NO PENALTIES WHERE NO STANDARD OR REGU-
LATION EXISTS.—Section 17 (29 U.S.C. 666) is amended
by striking out ‘‘of the requirements of section 5 of this
Act,’’ each place it appears.
(e) JURISDICTION FOR PROSECUTION UNDER STATE
AND LOCAL CRIMINAL LAWS.—Section 17 (29 U.S.C.
666), as amended by subsection (c), is amended by adding
at the end the following:
‘‘(m) Nothing in this Act shall preclude State and
local law enforcement agencies from conducting criminal
prosecutions in accordance with the laws of such State or
locality.’’.
SEC. 9. REVIEW BY THE COMMISSION.
(a) COMMISSION ACTION.—Section 10(c) (29 U.S.C.
6559(c)) is amended as follows:
(1) In the first sentence, by striking out ‘‘fif-
teen’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘30’’.
(2) By amending the second and third sen-
tences to read as follows: ‘‘The Commission shall
thereafter issue an order, based on its de novo find-
ings of fact and its de novo conclusions of law, af-
firming, modifying, or vacating the Secretary’s cita-
tion or proposed penalty, or directing other appro-
priate relief, and such order shall become final 30
days after first issuance. Upon a showing by an em-
ployer of a good faith effort to comply with the
abatement requirements of a citation, and that the
abatement has not been completed because of factors
beyond the employer’s reasonable control, the Com-
mission, after an opportunity for a hearing as pro-
vided in this subsection, shall issue an order affirm-
ing or modifying the abatement requirements in
such citation.’’.
(b) UPHOLDING COMMISSION’S CONCLUSIONS.—Sec-
tion 11(a) (29 U.S.C. 660(c)) is amended by adding the
following sentence immediately after the sixth sentence:
‘‘The Commission’s conclusions of law with respect to the
construction of this Act, or regulations, rules, standards
or orders adopted under this Act, shall be upheld if rea-
sonable.’’.
(c) NUMBERS.—(1) Section 12(a) (29 U.S.C. 661(a))
is amended by striking out ‘‘three members’’ and inserting
‘‘5 members’’ and by inserting after the second sentence:
‘‘At least one member of the Commission shall have expe-
rience or expertise in mining.’’.
(2) Section 12(f) (29 U.S.C. 661(f)) is amended by
striking out ‘‘two’’ and inserting ‘‘3’’.
(d) AMENDMENT.—Section 12(g) (29 U.S.C. 661(g))
is amended by adding at the end the following new sen-
tence: ‘‘If the parties so agree, no formal proceedings, in-
cluding requests for the production of documents, requests
for admissions, interrogatories, or depositions shall be re-
quired.’’.
SEC. 10. NIOSH REPEALED.
The Act is amended by repealing sections 20, 21, and
22 (29 U.S.C. 669, 670, 671).
SEC. 11. STATE WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION
REPEALED.
The Act is amended by repealing section 27 (29
U.S.C. 676).
SEC. 12. STATE PROGRAMS.
Section 18(c) (29 U.S.C. 667(c)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking out ‘‘are re-
quired by compelling local conditions and do not un-
duly burden interstate commerce’’ and inserting
‘‘are substantively the same as any requirement
under a standard promulgated under section 6,’’;
(2) in paragraph (3), by inserting before the
comma at the end the following: ‘‘and provides
means for informal resolution and adjudication of
contested citations’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘Paragraphs (4) and (5) shall not apply if the State has
adopted alternative performance measures to assure that
its program is at least as effective as the Federal program
in assuring safe and healthful employment and places of
employment.’’.
SEC. 13. DISCRIMINATION.
Section 11(c) (29 U.S.C. 660(c)) is amended by strik-
ing out paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting in lieu there-
of the following:
‘‘(2) Any employee who believes that the employee
has been discharged or otherwise discriminated against by
any person in violation of paragraph (1) or who believes
that the employee has been discharged or discriminated
against because of an action taken by the employee under
section 8(f), may, within 60 days after such violation oc-
curs, file a complaint with the Secretary alleging such dis-
crimination. Upon receipt of such a complaint the Sec-
retary shall notify the person named in the complaint and
begin an investigation to determine if the Secretary
should, on behalf of such employee, request the Commis-
sion to take action on the basis of such complaint. The
Secretary shall make such determination within 60 days
of the filing of such complaint.
‘‘(3) If within such 60 days, the Secretary does not
file a complaint on behalf of the complainant with the
Commission, such employee may file such complaint with
the Commission. If such a complaint is filed with the Com-
mission of if the Secretary files a complaint, the Commis-