House Democrats Strive to Protect Workers

On April 23rd, House Democrats introduced HR 2067, the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA). If passed, PAWA will make a number of important, necessary changes to the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, which had not been modified since being passed in 1970. Key provisions include:

• Closing gaps in the OSH Act’s coverage to include local, state, and federal workers, airline and railroad employees and millions of others who currently are not covered;
• Strengthening employer penalties for violations of the OSH Act, including raising civil penalties and indexing them to inflation, imposing mandatory minimum penalties for violations leading to fatalities, and authorizing criminal penalties in cases where deliberate violations lead to serious injury or death;
• Improving current whistleblower protections, giving workers the
  right to refuse hazardous work,
  and stipulating that workers be paid for time spent accompanying an OSHA inspector on an investigation; and
• Requiring OSHA to investigate all cases of death and serious injury, and allowing workers to participate in investigations and to contest OSHA’s citations—or lack thereof—and penalties.
  

The OSH Act is estimated to have saved more than 390,000 lives since its passage, and this legislation would build on that legacy by closing loopholes, filling in gaps, and further fostering worker safety and health.