[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 28, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2477-S2478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FRANKEN (for himself and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 1112. 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 high gravity violations, to 
adjust penalties for inflation, to provide rights for victims or their 
family members, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about 
the need for a safer and healthier workplace and to urge my colleagues 
to join me and Senator Murray in supporting the Protecting America's 
Workers Act, which I am proud to introduce today.
  Today, April 28, is Workers' Memorial Day--a day for our Nation to 
remember and focus on those workers who have died or been injured on 
the job. Today is also a day to acknowledge the significant suffering 
experienced by families and communities when workers die or are injured 
and to recommit ourselves to maintaining safe and healthy workplaces 
for all of our workers.
  April 28 is also the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970, the OSH Act, which created the Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration. When the bill was passed on a bipartisan 
basis and signed into law by President Nixon 45 years ago, 14,000 
workers were dying on the job each year. Now the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics estimates that there were 4,405 worker fatalities in 2013. 
That is a huge improvement, and it would not have happened without the 
OSH Act. But it also means that far too many workers are still getting 
hurt and dying on the job.
  Our workforce and workplaces have changed significantly in 45 years, 
but our laws have not kept pace. We have made no real updates to our 
workplace safety laws even though thousands of workers die every year 
on the job, many in large industrial disasters that could be prevented.
  Unfortunately, too often, we are told that we cannot afford to 
strengthen our workplace safety laws. But I believe our country cannot 
afford the economic and emotional costs incurred by middle-class 
families when workers lose their lives or their livelihoods on the job. 
And it is not just those families; law-abiding businesses that invest 
in safe workplaces cannot afford to subsidize the corporations that cut 
corners on workplace safety and then leave the American public to pick 
up the tab.
  Let me remind you of a few of the tragedies that have happened in 
just the past decade that show the cost to our country.
  On March 23, 2005, fire and an explosion at BP's Texas City Refinery 
killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 others. On February 7, 
2008, 13 people were killed and 42 people were injured in a dust 
explosion at a sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, GA.
  On April 17, 2014, 15 people were killed--13 of them volunteer first 
responders--and another 200 people were injured after a fertilizer 
company in West Texas exploded. The explosion leveled roughly 80 homes 
and a middle school. Mr. President, 133 residents of a nearby nursing 
home were trapped in the ruins.
  And just last week, we recognized the 5-year anniversary of the 
explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of 
Mexico in 2010. That accident killed 11 workers and is considered the 
largest accidental marine oilspill in the history of the petroleum 
industry, costing millions to the local economy and causing 
unprecedented damage to the environment.
  All of the reports following these accidents cited weak compliance 
and gaps in our safety laws. They all point to the fact that our 
workplace safety laws are too weak. They are so weak that they cannot 
ensure the safety of American workers, and they do not level the 
playing field for law-abiding businesses that make sure their workers 
are safe.
  These are not isolated incidents. Since the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics began collecting data on worker fatalities on the job in 
1992, over 124,000 workers have died on the job. To put that in 
perspective, on average, in the United States, about six times as many 
people die on the job each year as died in airplane crashes last year 
worldwide. The fact is that many of these accidents could have been 
prevented. Many of these workers could still be with their families 
today. But, unfortunately, even after the reports outlining the details 
of these accidents and recommending commonsense updates to our laws to 
protect workers from these types of incidents, there have been no 
significant updates made to the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
  We all rely on the sacrifice of American workers who are employed in 
difficult and often dangerous industries. We all depend on 
construction, manufacturing, natural gas production, and agriculture to 
help build and heat our homes and put food on the table. The Americans 
who work in those fields should not have to choose between their health 
and safety and providing for their families.
  We can do something about that. That is why today I am proud to 
reintroduce the Protecting America's Workers Act with Senator Patty 
Murray, who has long been a champion of workers' rights. After 45 
years, this legislation will modernize the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act for the 21st century.

[[Page S2478]]

  This legislation will expand the number of workers in safe workplaces 
and make it harder to violate workplace safety laws. It will also 
protect whistleblowers who bravely speak out about unsafe work 
conditions for themselves, their coworkers, and their families. This 
legislation protects the public's right to know about safety violations 
and about OSHA investigations. It will also help us track and respond 
to workplace safety issues by requiring tracking of worker injuries.
  Nothing can bring back the workers lost in Texas City; Port 
Wentworth, GA; West Texas; the Deepwater Horizon disaster; or the many 
tens of thousands of other workers who have lost their lives on the 
job. But we owe it to those who have died and to their surviving 
families to learn from those accidents and to try to stop them from 
happening so that other families do not have to suffer the same loss.
  Good jobs are safe jobs, and I believe this bill will help us create 
safer workplaces. I urge my colleagues to join me and Senator Murray in 
supporting the Protecting America's Workers Act.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I believe that we in Congress should be 
working to grow the economy from the middle out, not from the top down, 
and we should make sure that our government is working for all of our 
families, not just the wealthiest few. An important part of this is 
making sure that workers have access to a safe and healthy workplace 
and the basic protection of earning a living without fearing for their 
safety.
  That effort takes on special meaning today. April 28, today, is 
Workers' Memorial Day, the day when we remember those who lost their 
lives just for doing their job. When a worker is injured or is killed 
on the job, it has devastating impacts for their families and their 
communities. In 2014, more than 4,500 workers were killed on the job. 
That is more than 12 deaths every single day.
  So we need to do everything we can to make sure employers are taking 
the necessary precautions to keep their workers safe.
  So today, let's keep the families and communities that have suffered 
from these losses in our thoughts, and let's make sure this Workers' 
Memorial Day is about recommitting ourselves to improving safety 
protections at workplaces across the country. Every worker in every 
industry should have basic worker protections. While workers are doing 
their jobs, employers should be doing everything they can to protect 
them.

  In 1970, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act to 
protect workers from unsafe working conditions. Back in 1970, that law 
finally gave workers some much needed protection so they could earn a 
living without sacrificing their health or safety.
  Since then, of course, American industry has changed significantly. 
Businesses have become more complex. Workers are performing 21st-
century tasks, but we are still using a 1970s approach to protect 
employees. That doesn't make sense, and it is time for it to change.
  I support the bill Senator Franken introduced today called Protecting 
America's Workers Act. I want to note that Senator Franken is the new 
ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety. In that role, he will 
bring a focus and a passion for moving this legislation forward, and I 
look forward to working with him to that end.
  The Protecting America's Workers Act is a long overdue update to the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act and is a good step toward making 
workplaces across America safer and healthier. The legislation will 
increase protections for workers who report unsafe working conditions, 
and adding these whistleblower protections will protect workers from 
retaliation. The bill will make sure workers have the option to appeal 
to Federal courts if they are being mistreated for telling the truth 
about dangerous practices. This bill will also improve reporting, 
inspection, and enforcement of workplace health and safety violations. 
It expands the rights of victims of unsafe workplaces and makes sure 
employers quickly improve unsafe workplaces to avoid further 
endangering worker health and safety because we owe it to all workers 
to make sure they are truly protected on the job.
  Our economy is finally recovering after the worst downturn since the 
Great Depression. We are not all the way back yet, and there is a lot 
more that needs to be done to create jobs and help our middle class and 
working families. But while we continue that work, we must also 
recommit to our bedrock responsibilities to workers and their safety. 
Workers should be able to go to work confident their employers are 
doing their part to provide safe and healthy workplaces, and they 
should know their government is looking out for them, their families, 
and their economic security.
  Today, I urge my colleagues to reflect on the workers who lost their 
lives this past year. I am hopeful we can honor their legacy by working 
together to pass the Protecting America's Workers Act and make these 
commonsense updates to meet our obligations to the best workforce in 
the world and continue our work growing the economy from the middle 
out, not the top down.
                                 ______