[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               OSHA CHANGES TO VACCINE REACTION REPORTING

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, historically, under the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act, covered employers were required to maintain an 
annual log of all work-related illnesses and injuries.
  An illness or injury is recordable if it is work-related, a new case, 
and the incident involves days away from work or medical treatment 
beyond first aid, among other things.
  On May 21, OSHA changed these requirements. This new OSHA policy 
effectively removes legal liability from employers that require a 
vaccine at least through May 2022. Now, if a worker decides to get a 
vaccine to keep their job and experiences an adverse reaction, the 
employer is not responsible for this injury.
  OSHA stated it changed this requirement only because they do not want 
to give any suggestion of discouraging workers from receiving the 
COVID-19 vaccinations or to disincentivize employers' vaccination 
efforts.
  Why are they trying to hide statistics related to the vaccine? While 
this policy change appears to be a mere sidenote for OSHA's lengthy 
guidelines, we have to ask President Biden and OSHA: Why is the ethical 
burden on the workers and not on the government?

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