Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, who emphasized that current OSHA penalties must be increased in order to motivate employers to increase their compliance with the OSHA standards. Michaels stated that environmental laws currently carry much heavier penalties than penalties under the OSH Act, especially where loss of human life is involved.
(From and Hr.cch.com article)Â Â Â The Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the “Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) (H.R. 2067).” The bill, introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the subcommittee, addresses three major weaknesses in the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act:
- It would expand OSHA coverage to more than 8.5 million state and local public employees who currently have limited or no protection from safety and health hazards at work.
- It also would amend OSHA’s whistleblower provisions to expedite the process because the current delays in decision-making deprives workers of due process.
- Finally, the bill would update civil and criminal penalties.
http://hr.cch.com/news/safety/032410a.asp
