US Congress Senate Bill 1166 (Prior Session Legislation)

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June 9 2011 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Pending: Senate Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Protecting America's Workers Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA-1970) to expand its coverage to federal, state, and local government employees. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under specified conditions, to cede OSHA-1970 jurisdiction to another federal agency with respect to certain occupational standards or regulations for such agency's employees. Declares OSHA-1970 inapplicable to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Heath Act of 1977. Increases protections for whistle blowers under OSHA-1970. Prescribes requirements relating to: (1) the posting of employee rights, (2) employer reporting of employee work-related deaths or hospitalizations, (3) a prohibition against employers adopting or implementing policies or practices that discourage or discriminate against employee reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses, (4) a prohibition against the loss of wages or employee benefits due to an employee participating in a workplace inspection, (5) investigations of incidents resulting in death or the hospitalization of two or more employees which occur in a place of employment, and (6) a prohibition against the issuing, modifying, or settling of unclassified citations for occupational health and safety standard violations. Continues requirements relating to: (1) the rights of an employee (including a former employee or family member in lieu of an employee) who has sustained a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an inspection or investigation; (2) an employer's right to contest citations and penalties; and (3) periods permitted for an employer to correct serious, willful, or repeated violations pending an employer's contest to a citation and procedures for stays of the time period for abatement of those violations. Increases civil and criminal penalties for certain OSHA-1970 violators. States that pre-final order interest on any penalties owed shall begin to accrue on the date a party contests a citation, at an interest rate calculated at the current underpayment rate. Prescribes requirements for the Secretary's evaluation of state occupational safety and health plans as well as workplace health hazard evaluations by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Requires a state that has an approved plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards to amend its plan to conform to the requirements of this Act within 12 months after enactment of this Act.

Protecting America's Workers Act

Sen Murray, Patty	Sen Akaka, Daniel K.	Sen Blumenthal, Richard	Sen Brown, Sherrod
Sen Franken, Al	Sen Harkin, Tom	Sen Lautenberg, Frank R.	Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV
Sen Sanders, Bernard	Sen Shaheen, Jeanne	Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon

Date	Chamber	Action
2011-06-09	Senate	Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
2011-06-09	Senate	Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3689-3690)

HB190 (Same As) 2011-02-25 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
HB571 (Related) 2011-03-04 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

Type	Source
Summary	http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:SN01166:@@@L&summ2=m&
Text	http://gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s1166is/pdf/BILLS-112s1166is.pdf