110 HR 1327 IH: Protective Equipment for America’s U.S. House of Representatives 2007-03-06 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1327 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 6, 2007 Ms. Roybal-Allard (for herself and Mr. George Miller of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to complete its rulemaking on Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment for workers.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Protective Equipment for America’s Workers Act.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as respirators, chemical resistant clothing, metal mesh gloves, lifelines and lanyards, safety glasses, and face shields substantially reduces the fatalities and injuries among the Nation’s workers. (2)An estimated 20 million workers use PPE on a regular basis to protect them from job hazards. (3)In some jobs, including many low-wage jobs dominated by immigrant workers, personal protective equipment is a worker’s principal protection from harm. (4)Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that in 2005 there were over 4 million non-fatal injuries in the private sector and over 5,700 fatalities. (5)In 1999, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a rule to require employers to pay for PPE needed to protect workers exposed to hazards on the job. (6)The proposed rule did not impose new obligations on employers to provide PPE, but simply clarified their responsibility to pay for it. (7)According to OSHA, the PPE rule would prevent nearly 48,000 injuries and as many as 7 fatalities each year. (8)OSHA first estimated that the final PPE rule would be issued in 2000, but the agency missed that deadline and has missed the subsequent deadlines announced in its semi-annual regulatory agenda in 2004, 2005, and 2006. (9)Since 1999, when OSHA first proposed the PPE rule, workers have suffered almost 400,000 injuries and more than 50 deaths that could have been prevented had the rule been issued, according to OSHA estimates.

3.

OSHA rulemaking on personal protective equipment

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall issue a final rule under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) on Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment, which shall provide no less protection to employees and shall have no further exceptions from the employer payment requirement than the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on March 31, 1999.