[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9528-S9530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                POSTAL EMPLOYEES SAFETY ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed 
to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 501, S. 2112.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2112) to make Occupational Safety and Health Act 
     of 1970 applicable to the United States Postal Service in the 
     same manner as any other employer.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. ENZI. I ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read the 
third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, 
and any statements relating to the bill be placed at the appropriate 
place in the Record.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The bill (S. 2112) was considered read a third time and passed, as 
follows:

                                S. 2112

       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 ``Postal Employees Safety 
     Enhancement Act''.

     SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF ACT.

       (a) Definition.--Section 3(5) of the Occupational Safety 
     and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652(5)) is amended by 
     inserting after ``the United States'' the following: ``(not 
     including the United States Postal Service)''.
       (b) Federal Programs.--

[[Page S9529]]

       (1) Occupational safety and health.--Section 19(a) of the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 668(a)) 
     is amended by inserting after ``each Federal Agency'' the 
     following: ``(not including the United States Postal 
     Service)''.
       (2) Other safety programs.--Section 7902(a)(2) of title 5, 
     United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
     ``Government of the United States'' the following: ``(not 
     including the United States Postal Service)''.

     SEC. 3. CLOSING OR CONSOLIDATION OF OFFICES NOT BASED ON OSHA 
                   COMPLIANCE.

       Section 404(b)(2) of title 39, United States Code, is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(2) The Postal Service, in making a determination whether 
     or not to close or consolidate a post office--
       ``(A) shall consider--
       ``(i) the effect of such closing or consolidation on the 
     community served by such post office;
       ``(ii) the effect of such closing or consolidation on 
     employees of the Postal Service employed at such office;
       ``(iii) whether such closing or consolidation is consistent 
     with the policy of the Government, as stated in section 
     101(b) of this title, that the Postal Service shall provide a 
     maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to 
     rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices 
     are not self-sustaining;
       ``(iv) the economic savings to the Postal Service resulting 
     from such closing or consolidation; and
       ``(v) such other factors as the Postal Service determines 
     are necessary; and
       ``(B) may not consider compliance with any provision of the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
     seq.).''.

     SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON RESTRICTION OR ELIMINATION OF 
                   SERVICES.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, 
     is amended by adding after section 414 the following:

     ``Sec. 415. Prohibition on restriction or elimination of 
       services

       ``The Postal Service may not restrict, eliminate, or 
     adversely affect any service provided by the Postal Service 
     as a result of the payment of any penalty imposed under the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
     seq.).''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

``415. Prohibition on restriction or elimination of services.''.

     SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS ON RAISE IN RATES.

       Section 3622 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Compliance with any provision of the Occupational 
     Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) shall 
     not be considered by the Commission in determining whether to 
     increase rates and shall not otherwise affect the service of 
     the Postal Service.''.

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, this bill that was just passed by the Senate 
will dramatically improve workplace safety and health for more than 
800,000 U.S. Postal Service employees. Senate bill 2112, the Postal 
Employees Safety Enhancement Act, will bring the Postal Service under 
the full jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration. It is my firm belief that government must play by its 
own rules, that all Federal agencies must comply with the 1970 
occupational safety and health statute. They are not required to pay 
penalties issued to them by OSHA. They will be under this bill. The 
lack of any enforcement tool renders compliance requirements for the 
subsector ineffective, at best.
  My first look at this occurred when I noticed that Yellowstone 
National Park had been cited for over 600 violations. Ninety of them 
were serious. One of them was failure to report a death.
  It occurred to me, though, that they may not be the worst violators, 
so I checked on the Federal Government and found that the agency that 
we needed to start with was the U.S. Postal Service.
  What is most troubling about the Postal Service's safety record is 
its annual workers' compensation payments. From 1992 to 1997, the 
Postal Service paid an average of $505 million in workers' compensation 
costs, placing them once again at the top of the Federal Government's 
list. Moreover, the Postal Service's annual contribution to workers' 
compensation amounts to almost one-third of the Federal Government's 
$1.8 billion price tag.
  In 1970, Congress passed the Postal Reorganization Act, eliminating 
the old Postal Department status as a Cabinet office. Twelve years 
later, the Postal Service became fiscally self-sufficient and is to be 
congratulated on that.
  After carefully listening to the perspectives of the Post Office and 
the unions representing its employees, I have concluded that the Postal 
Employees Safety Enhancement Act is necessary legislation. S. 2112 
addresses specialized problems in a specialized business by permitting 
OSHA to fully regulate the Postal Service the way it does private 
businesses. In addition, the bill would prevent the Postal Service from 
closing or consolidating rural post offices or services simply because 
it is required to comply with OSHA. Service to all areas in the Nation, 
rural or urban, was made a part of the Postal Service's mission by the 
1970 Postal Reorganization Act. The quality of service it provides 
should not decrease because of efforts to protect and ensure employee 
safety and health.
  Along this same premise, the bill would prevent the Postal Rate 
Commission from raising the price of stamps to help the Postal Service 
pay for potential OSHA fines. Rather, the Postal Service should offset 
the potential for the fines by improving the workplace conditions. That 
is what we have been trying to do on all OSHA work that we have done--
to get more safety and health in the workplace. That would decrease the 
Postal Service annual $505 million expenditure on workers' comp claims, 
and, more importantly, it would keep those employees safe. That is why 
the money won't have to be spent.
  I do not believe that this incremental bill should be looked on as an 
expansion of regulatory enforcement. For years OSHA has been inspecting 
the Federal work sites and issuing citations to those who are not in 
compliance. This will continue, whether this bill is signed into law or 
not. S. 2112 would simply require the Postal Service to pay any fine 
issued by OSHA to the General Treasury, expediting abatement of safety 
and health hazard.
  Abating occupational safety and health hazards should be a top 
priority of any employer. Now, the U.S. Postal Service recently 
announced a $100 million program to entice kids to collect stamps. I 
don't question the validity of such a program or the benefit it would 
have on the Nation's kids. However, I do question whether this program 
should be a priority while workers' compensation claims and injuries, 
illness, lost time, and fatality rates remain so high.
  We must ensure the safety and health of all employees because they 
are the most important asset of any business. The success or failure of 
any business, including the Post Office, rests on their ability to 
provide efficient care and service to their customers.
  In my capacity as a Senator, I have committed much of my time to the 
advancement of workplace safety and health by advocating commonsense, 
incremental legislation. While it is important for OSHA to retain its 
ability to enforce the law and respond to employee complaints in a 
timely fashion, the agency must also begin to broaden its preventive 
initiatives in an effort to bring more workplaces into compliance 
before accidents and fatalities occur.
  I want to extend my sincere thanks to Senator Bingaman for 
coauthoring the Postal Employees Safety Advancement Act. I believe all 
stakeholder meetings have paid off--producing a balanced, incremental 
piece of legislation. Chairman Jeffords of the Senate Labor Committee 
and ranking member, Senator Kennedy, are to be commended for their 
steady commitment to advancing occupational safety and health. I also 
thank their staffs for all of the time that they spent on it. I 
particularly congratulate and express my appreciation to Chris Spear of 
my staff, and the other people on my team in the office who have been 
helping on a day-by-day, grind-it-out basis to work on all occupational 
safety and health. I am thankful for all the time that everyone has 
spent discussing this important issue with me.
  I also want to thank all of the cosponsors. This is a very bipartisan 
bill. Their support is greatly appreciated.
  Finally, I want to thank Congressman Greenwood for authoring the 
House version and subcommittee chairmen Ballenger and McHugh for their 
careful consideration in their respective subcommittees. Their work has 
helped to make this a real team effort.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am proud to join Senator Enzi and the 
other original cosponsors of this bill, Senator Jeffords, Senator 
Bingaman, and Senator Brownback, in celebrating the final passage of 
the Postal Employees Safety Enhancement Act. I especially want to 
commend Senator Enzi

[[Page S9530]]

for his leadership on this bill. His tireless devotion to the safety 
and health of the nation's workers has resulted today in passage of 
significant improvements for employees of the United States Postal 
Service. I am pleased to have worked with him on the passage of this 
important legislation, which will extend coverage of the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act to employees of the United States Postal Service. 
The bill has broad bipartisan support, and it is supported by the 
Administration as well.
  Few issues are more important to working families than health and 
safety on the job. For the past 28 years, OSHA has performed a critical 
role--protecting American workers from on-the-job injuries and 
illnesses.
  In carrying out this mission, OSHA has made an extraordinary 
difference in people's lives. Death rates from on-the-job accidents 
have dropped by over 60% since 1970--much faster than before the law 
was enacted. More than 140,000 lives have been saved.
  Occupational illnesses and injuries have dropped by one-third since 
OSHA's enactment--to a record low rate of 7.4 per 100 workers in 1996.
  These numbers are still unacceptably high, but they demonstrate that 
OSHA is a success by any reasonable measure.
  Even more lives have been saved in the past two places where OSHA has 
concentrated its efforts. Death rates have fallen by 61% in 
construction and 67% in manufacturing. Injury rates have dropped by 
half in construction, and nearly one-third in manufacturing. Clearly, 
OSHA works best where it works hardest.
  Unfortunately, these efforts do not apply to federal agencies. The 
original OSHA statute required only that federal agencies provide 
``safe and healthful places and conditions of employment'' to their 
employees. Specific OSHA safety and health rules did not apply.
  In 1980, President Carter issued an Executive Order that solved this 
problem in part. It directed federal agencies to comply with all OSHA 
safety standards, and it authorized OSHA to inspect workplaces and 
issue citations for violations.
  President Carter's action was an important step, but more needs to be 
done. When OSHA inspects a federal workplace and finds a safety 
violation, OSHA can direct the agency to eliminate the hazard. But OSHA 
has no authority to seek enforcement of its order in court, and it 
cannot assess a financial penalty on the agency to obtain compliance.
  The situation is especially serious in the Postal Service. Postal 
employees suffer one of the highest injury rates in the federal 
government. In 1996 alone, 78,761 postal employees were injured on the 
job--more than nine injuries and illnesses for every hundred workers. 
The total injury and illness rate among Postal Service workers 
represents almost half of the rate for the entire federal government, 
even though less than one-third of all federal workers are employed by 
the Postal Service. Fourteen postal employees were killed on the job in 
1996--one-sixth of the federal total. Workers' compensation charges at 
the Postal Service are also high--$538 million in 1997.
  This legislation will bring down these unacceptably high rates. It 
permits OSHA to issue citations for safety hazards, and back them up 
with penalties. This credible enforcement threat will encourage the 
Postal Service to comply with the law. It will save taxpayer dollars 
currently spent on workers' compensation costs.
  Most important, it will reduce the extraordinarily high rate of 
injuries among postal employees. Ever worker deserves a safe and 
healthy place to work, and this bill will help achieve that goal for 
the 860,000 employees of the Postal Service. They deserve it, and I am 
pleased to join my colleagues in providing it.

                          ____________________