[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 121 (Wednesday, August 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Dodd, 
        Mr. Harkin, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Brown, Mr. Casey, 
        Mr. Merkley, Mr. Franken, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Akaka, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
        Feingold, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. 
        Lautenberg, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Whitehouse)):
  S. 1580. A bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 to expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for 
whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the 
Protecting America's Workers Act. Almost 40 years ago, Congress set out 
to guarantee a safe workplace for all Americans. The Occupational 
Safety and Health Act of 1970 was landmark legislation that has 
dramatically improved the well-being of working men and women.
  Since then, the annual job fatality rate has dropped from 18 deaths 
per 100,000 workers to less than four. Thousands of lives have been 
saved each year. These are not abstract numbers--they represent 
thousands of families who have been spared the pain and heartache of 
losing a loved one on the job.
  We are enormously proud of the progress we have made, but we also 
know that too many workers continue to face needless dangers in the 
workplace. In 2007, almost 5,500 workers were killed on the job and 4 
million other workers became ill or were injured. Fifteen workers still 
die on the job every day, and nearly 11,000 who are injured or become 
ill because of dangerous conditions.
  We now have strong partners in the White House and at the Department 
of Labor who are committed to making our workplaces safer. But they 
need action by Congress as well. That is why today we are reintroducing 
the Protecting America's Workers Act, to take concrete steps to address 
many of the failures of the existing law.
  First, this legislation expands the coverage of the current job 
safety laws to protect the millions of public employees and 
transportation workers who are not covered by these laws. In 
Massachusetts alone, 350,000 public sector workers lack the protections 
granted by the federal workplace safety law.
  Our bill also protects workers who speak up about unsafe conditions 
on the job, by updating OSHA's whistleblower provisions. OSHA 
inspectors can't be in every workplace, every day. We must rely on 
workers who have the courage to come forward when they know their 
employer is cutting corners on safety. This legislation makes good on 
the promise to stand by those workers and guarantee they don't have to 
sacrifice their jobs in order to do the right thing.
  In addition, the legislation gives workers and their families and 
representatives a seat at the table on safety issues. It includes 
sensible reforms to ensure that victims and their families have a right 
to talk to OSHA before a citation issues, to obtain copies of important 
documents, to be informed about their rights, and to have their voices 
heard before OSHA accepts a settlement that lets an employer off the 
hook for endangering workers.
  Finally, a critical element of this bill is the increase in penalties 
on employers who turn their backs on the safety of their workers. Too 
many employers in our country blatantly ignore the law, and too often 
they are not held accountable. They pay only minimal fines, which they 
treat as just another cost of doing business.
  Last year, my office issued a report that showed that the median 
penalty for a workplace fatality was only $3,675. In other words, in 
cases investigated by OSHA where workers were killed on the job, half 
of all employers were fined $3,675 or less. Workers' lives are 
obviously worth far more than that. We know this administration will do 
better, but it needs our help.
  The bill makes reasonable increases in civil penalties--especially in 
the most serious cases. It also creates a strong criminal penalty, 
including the possibility of felony charges and significant prison 
terms. These changes will create the deterrence we need so that 
employers will think twice before they gamble with workers' lives to 
save a few dollars. We need to send a strong message that it is 
unacceptable to treat workers as expendable or disposable.
  Earlier this year a brave young woman, Tammy Miser, testified before 
our Labor Committee about her brother Shawn, who was killed in an 
explosion at the Hayes Lemmerz manufacturing plant in Huntington, 
Indiana in 2003. We can't bring Shawn back and we can't ease Tammy's 
pain at the loss of her beloved brother. But we can stand with her as 
she pursues her life's work since then of speaking out for the right of 
every worker to come home safely at the end of the day. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in honoring the millions of hardworking Americans 
who deserve real protection by supporting the Protecting America's 
Workers Act.
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