ABC - ABC and 54 Chapters Speak Out Against Increased Employer Penalties

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ABC AND 54 CHAPTERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST INCREASED EMPLOYER PENALTIES (07/21/2010)

ABC and 54 of its chapters July 20 signed onto a letter expressing opposition to provisions in the Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663) in advance of a markup of the bill.

The letter was sent by the Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS), of which ABC is a member, to Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, and Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), ranking member on the Committee. More than 200 other organizations and their chapters signed the letter.

H.R. 5663 uses language from the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067/S. 1590) which affects employers in all industries by amending the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act by changing the penalty scheme for safety violations by altering the requirement for criminal liability from acts that are deemed “willful” to acts that are deemed only “knowing,” and broadening the definition of employer from “any responsible corporate officer” to “officer or director.”

In addition to the letter sent by CWS, ABC sent a separate letter to Miller and Kline July 20 noting out that under the bill employers could be required to make immediate and costly changes in response to a citation without the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) showing that there is an imminent threat and without being provided a hearing or judicial review of the inspector’s allegations. ABC also pointed out that most inspectors are not industry experts and lack knowledge or background in industry-specific safety practices and operations and that the increased emphasis on enforcement would take away the cooperative relationship most ABC members enjoy with OSHA.

“In order to work towards our shared goals of healthy and safe workplaces, OSHA must be a resource for employers as well as an enforcement agency,” ABC said in the letter. “However, we strongly believe H.R. 5663, as introduced, will not improve safety but will instead create greater cost and litigation, and hamper job creation.”

The bill was marked up July 21 by the Committee on Education and Labor, following a hearing for the bill that took place July 13. CWS submitted testimony during the hearing that echoed the concerns expressed in ABC’s letter.