[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1162 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1162

        To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 1997

Mr. Hefley (for himself, Mr. Bliley, Mr. Dan Schaefer of Colorado, Mr. 
Bob Schaffer of Colorado, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Taylor of North Carolina, Mr. 
  Skeen, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Norwood, and Mr. 
    Paul) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``OSHA Reform Act of 
1997''.
    (b) Reference.--Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is 
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other 
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 
other provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

SEC. 2. REPEALS.

    Sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 17 (29 U.S.C. 657, 658, 659, 660, 
666) are repealed.

SEC. 3. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS.

    (a) Standard Basis.--Paragraph (5) of section 6(b) (29 U.S.C. 
655(b)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(5) The development of standards under this section shall 
        be based upon the latest scientific data in the field and on 
        such research, demonstrations, experiments, and other 
        information as may be appropriate. In establishing such 
        standards, the Secretary shall consider and make findings 
        concerning the appropriateness of the standard to the following 
        factors:
                    ``(A) The standard is needed to address a 
                significant risk of material impairment to workers and 
                will substantially reduce that risk.
                    ``(B) The standard is feasible.
                    ``(C) There is a reasonable relationship between 
                the costs and benefits of the standard.
                    ``(D) The standard will provide protection to 
                employees in the most cost-effective manner to minimize 
                employment loss due to the standard in the affected 
                industries.
                    ``(E) Whenever practicable, the standard shall be 
                expressed in terms of objective criteria and of the 
                performance desired.''.
    (b) Toxic Materials or Harmful Physical Agents.--The second 
sentence of section 6(g) (29 U.S.C. 655(g)) is amended to read as 
follows: ``In determining the priority for establishing standards 
dealing with toxic materials or harmful physical agents, the Secretary 
shall consider the number of workers exposed to the material or agent, 
the nature and severity of the potential impairment, and the likelihood 
of such impairment.''.

SEC. 4. NEW PROVISIONS.

    (a) Employee Participation.--The Act is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

                        ``employee participation

    ``Sec. 33. In order to carry out the purposes of this Act to 
encourage employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number 
of occupational safety and health hazards, an employee participation 
committee or other mechanism--
            ``(1) in which employees participate,
            ``(2) which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of 
        dealing with employees concerning the safety or health of 
        working conditions or related matters, and
            ``(3) which does not have, claim, or seek authority to 
        negotiate or enter into collective bargaining agreements with 
        an employer or to amend existing collective bargaining 
        agreements between and employer and any labor organization,
shall not constitute a `labor organization' for purposes of section 
8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act or a representative for 
purposes of sections 1 and 2 of the Railway Labor Act.
    (b) Small Business Assistance and Training.--The Act, as amended by 
subsection (a), is amended by adding after section 33 the following:

                ``small business assistance and training

    ``Sec. 34. (a) The Secretary shall establish and implement a 
program to provide technical assistance and consultative services for 
employers and employees, either directly or by grant or contract, 
concerning worksite safety and health and compliance with this Act. 
Such assistance shall be targeted at small employers and the most 
hazardous industries.
    ``(b) This subsection authorizes the consultative services to 
employers provided under cooperative agreements between the States and 
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and described in part 
1908 of title 39 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
    ``(c) Not less than one-fourth of the annual appropriation made to 
the Secretary to carry out this Act shall be expended for the purposes 
described in this section.''.
    (c) Voluntary Protection Program Award.--The Act, as amended by 
subsection (b), is amended by adding after section 34 the following:

                  ``voluntary protection program award

    ``Sec. 35. (a) The Secretary shall establish an award which shall 
periodically be made to companies and other organizations which have 
implemented particularly effective approaches to addressing 
occupational safety and health in the workplace, including those which 
provide for effective employee involvement in improving safety and 
health and which are as a consequence deserving of special recognition.
    ``(b) A company or organization to which an award is made under 
subsection (a) and which agrees to help other American companies or 
organizations improve their occupational safety and health may 
publicize its receipt of such award and use the award in its 
advertising, but it shall be ineligible to receive another such award 
in the same category for a period of 5 years.
    ``(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), separate awards shall be made to 
qualifying organizations and companies in each of the following 
categories--
                    ``(A) Small businesses.
                    ``(B) Other companies or their subsidiaries.
                    ``(C) Companies which primarily perform 
                construction work.
            ``(2) Change in list.--The Secretary may at any time 
        expand, subdivide, or otherwise modify the list of categories 
        within which awards may be made as initially in effect under 
        paragraph (1) and may establish separate awards for other 
        organizations and companies including units of government, upon 
        a determination that the objectives of this section would be 
        better served thereby; except that any such expansion, 
        subdivision, modification, or establishment shall not be 
        effective unless and until the Secretary has submitted a 
        detailed description thereof to the Congress and a period of 30 
        days has elapsed since that submission.
            ``(3) Not more than 2 awards may be made within any 
        subcategory in any year (and no award shall be made within any 
        category or subcategory if there are no qualifying enterprises 
        in that category or subcategory).
    ``(d) An organization or company may qualify for an award under 
subsection (a) only if it--
            ``(1) applies to the Secretary in writing, for the award,
            ``(2) permits a rigorous evaluation of its occupational 
        safety and health operations, and
            ``(3) meets such requirements and specifications as the 
        Secretary determines to be appropriate to achieve the 
        objectives of this section.
In applying paragraph (3) with respect to any organization or company, 
the Secretary shall rely upon an intensive evaluation of the 
occupational safety and health operation. The examination should 
encompass all aspects of the organization's or company's current 
occupational safety and health practice. The award shall be given only 
to organizations and companies which have made outstanding improvements 
in their occupational safety and health practices and which demonstrate 
effective occupational safety and health practices through the training 
and involvement of all levels of personnel.
    ``(e) The Secretary shall ensure that all program participants 
receive the complete results of their audits as well as detailed 
explanations of all suggestions for improvements. The Secretary shall 
also provide information about the awards and the successful quality 
improvement strategies and programs of the award-winning participants 
to all participants and other appropriate groups.
    ``(f) The Secretary is authorized to seek and accept gifts from 
public and private sources to carry out the program under this section. 
If additional sums are needed to cover the full cost of the program, 
the Secretary shall impose fees upon the organizations and companies 
applying for the award in amounts sufficient to provide such additional 
sums.
    ``(g) The Secretary shall prepare and submit to the President and 
the Congress, within 3 years after the date of the enactment of this 
section, a report on the progress, findings, and conclusions of 
activities conducted pursuant to this section along with 
recommendations for possible modifications thereof.''.
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