WATCH LIST: Protective Equipment for America’s Workers Act

• OSHA Issues

Full text:

• H.R. 1327

Summary:

The Protective Equipment for America's Workers Act would require the Secretary of Labor to issue a final rule under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Such a rule would require employers to pay for personal protective equipment except in limited circumstances. The directive calls for a rule “which shall provide no less protection to employees and shall have no further exceptions from the employer payment requirement than the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on March 31, 1999.” According to the bill’s proposed findings, “OSHA first estimated that the final rule would be issued in 2000, but the agency missed that deadline and has missed the subsequent deadlines announced in its semi-annual regulatory agenda in 2004, 2005, and 2006.” A copy of the March 31, 1999 proposed rule is available HERE .