[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2869 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 419
105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2869

                          [Report No. 105-731]

   To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to exempt 
safety and health assessments, audits, and reviews conducted by or for 
          an employer from enforcement action under such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 7, 1997

   Mr. Ballenger (for himself, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. 
Norwood, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. Paul, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Bob Schaffer 
  of Colorado, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Graham, Mr. Istook, Mr. Fawell, Mr. 
 Greenwood, and Mr. Boehner) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

                           September 18, 1998

 Additional sponsors: Mr. Goodling, Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
 Hayworth, Mr. Hefley, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Wicker, 
 Mr. Bonilla, Mr. Petri, Mr. Pickering, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Knollenberg, 
                          and Mr. Scarborough

                           September 18, 1998

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to exempt 
safety and health assessments, audits, and reviews conducted by or for 
          an employer from enforcement action under such Act.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. EMPLOYER SAFETY AND HEALTH ASSESSMENTS, AUDITS, AND 
              REVIEWS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 8(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 (29 U.S.C. 657(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
``Records, reports, or other information prepared in connection with 
safety and health assessments, audits, or reviews conducted by or for 
the employer, except to the extent such assessments are prescribed 
under section 6(b)(7), shall not be required to be disclosed in any 
inspection, investigation, or enforcement proceeding pursuant to this 
Act.''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Self-Audit Promotion Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. EMPLOYER SAFETY AND HEALTH ASSESSMENTS, AUDITS, AND REVIEWS.

    Section 8(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 657(b)) is amended by adding ``(1)'' before ``In making'' and by 
adding at the end the following: ``Records, reports, or other 
information obtained or prepared in connection with safety and health 
assessments, audits, or reviews conducted by or for the employer shall 
not be required to be disclosed in any inspection, investigation, or 
enforcement proceeding pursuant to this Act, except as provided in 
paragraph (2). Such records, reports, or other information may be 
disclosed in the course of an inspection, investigation, or enforcement 
proceeding to the extent that the owner or operator of the facility 
expressly authorizes the disclosure.
    ``(2) Such records, reports, or other information may be required 
to be disclosed to the extent that--
            ``(A) the record, report, or information is sought as part 
        of a criminal proceeding; or
            ``(B) the record, report, or information is sought for 
        purposes of establishing the cause of, or an employer's actual 
        knowledge of, a particular alleged violation, but only if--
                    ``(i) the Secretary establishes, on evidence 
                independent of such records, reports, or information, 
                that a condition or practice of the employer is not in 
                compliance with the requirements of this Act; and
                    ``(ii) the employer has not undertaken good faith 
                efforts to address items identified in the assessment, 
                audit, or review, or initiated a process to abate 
                hazards or potential hazards identified in the 
                assessment, audit, or review.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `health and safety 
assessments, audits, or reviews' means an evaluation of 1 or more 
processes, operations, or facilities or of management systems related 
to such processes, operations, or facilities that is designed to 
identify and prevent noncompliance with this Act and hazards or 
potential hazards to employees. The records, reports, and information 
subject to paragraph (1) do not include medical records or records of 
employee exposure to potentially toxic materials or harmful physical 
agents, or records of work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses 
required to be maintained under this section.''.
                                     





                                                       Calendar No. 419

105th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2869

                          [Report No. 105-731]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to exempt 
safety and health assessments, audits, and reviews conducted by or for 
          an employer from enforcement action under such Act.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 18, 1998

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed