[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7261-S7263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LAUTENBERG:
  S. 2245. A bill to require employers to notify local emergency 
officials, under the appropriate circumstances, of workplace 
emergencies, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Labor and 
Human Resources.


             industrial emergency notification act of 1998

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I introduce the Industrial 
Emergency Notification Act of 1998. The bill will require the U.S. 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to require that 
employers notify local emergency officials, like police and fire 
departments, in the event of workplace emergencies. Passage of this 
bill will help prevent accidents such as the explosion that took the 
lives of five men three years ago at Napp Technologies in Lodi, New 
Jersey.
  One mark of our progress as a society is the extent to which we can 
guarantee every working man and woman a safe, healthy workplace. No one 
should have to risk their health and safety to make a decent living. 
Sadly, the Napp explosion showed us how far we have to go.
  Among other things, the Napp explosion showed the loopholes that 
exist in current OSHA regulations. On the day of the explosion, after 
the chemical mixture started smoking, Napp management clearly knew they 
had a chemical emergency on their hands, yet they ordered the 
evacuation by word of mouth rather than by alarm, resulting in a lack 
of notification to the fire department. Then, still without notifying 
local emergency officials, which even common sense would have dictated, 
they sent the workers back in to their deaths. After all this, one 
would think OSHA would have had the basis for a strong enforcement 
action against Napp. Yet after the explosion, OSHA officials were 
unable to cite Napp for not contacting local emergency officials 
because there was no clear enforceable requirement to do so.
  Current OSHA standards on workplace emergencies and emergency 
response require employers to coordinate with local response 
authorities, leaving the final decision for notification to employers' 
discretion--rather than specifying clear minimum criteria for 
notification. The compliance directive recently released by OSHA on 
this standard elaborates on this requirement, but fails to close this 
gap.
  The Industrial Emergency Notification Act of 1998 will require OSHA 
to require that employers notify local emergency officials in the event 
of workplace emergencies. OSHA shall specify, as appropriate, the 
circumstances under which emergency notification is required, such as 
workplace evacuation. Also, the legislation will codify OSHA's recent 
compliance directive, which requires employers to develop emergency 
response procedures in cooperation with local emergency officials.
  It is both possible and important to list the circumstances under 
which local emergency officials should be notified, rather than leaving 
such notification to the discretion of a potentially harried business 
manager. Also it is vital that OSHA's authority include the ability to 
take appropriate enforcement action against negligence, after 
inadequate notification and the resulting workplace injuries or deaths. 
Finally, in addition to the importance of this legislation in improving 
workplace safety, to the extent that local emergency officials can help 
control the chemical releases associated with workplace emergencies, 
this legislation will provide important environmental protection 
benefits as well.
  The bill is endorsed by the American Federation of Labor, Congress of 
Industrial Organizations, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and 
Textile Employees, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International 
Union, the International Chemical Workers Union Council of the United 
Food and Commercial Workers, the International Union of Operating 
Engineers, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the U.S. Public Interest 
Research Group.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2245

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Industrial Emergency 
     Notification Act of 1998.''

     SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY OFFICIALS.

       (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Administration shall issue as 
     a final rule, not later than 18 months of the enactment of 
     this act, a regulation that requires employers to:
       (1) notify outside emergency responders when the conditions 
     and circumstances

[[Page S7263]]

     occur which require outside emergency response, including 
     workplace evacuations and other conditions specified in the 
     rule;
       (2) describe with specificity in their emergency response 
     plans developed under 29 CFR 1919.120 or 1926.65, or in their 
     emergency action plans under 29 CFR 1910.38, the conditions 
     and circumstances that require outside emergency response in 
     addition to those specified under paragraph (1); and
       (3) obtain the agreement, in writing, of the outside 
     responders as to which conditions and circumstances require 
     outside response in addition to those specified under 
     paragraph (1).
                                 ______