OSHA's safety and health program standard, June 2001
The issue
Should the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issue a standard
mandating that all U.S. employers adopt a prescribed safety and health program?
Why it's important
In the 103rd Congress, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Bill Ford (D-Mich.) attempted
to pass the Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act (COSHRA) to
strengthen OSHA's command-and-control approach to enforcement. Their bill required
all businesses to have written safety and health programs. They believed amending
the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) was the proper vehicle for such
a mandate. Although Democrats controlled both congressional chambers and the White
House, COSHRA was rejected.
OSHA's risk assessment justifying the standard is so vague that it could be illegal
under the OSH Act. The Report of the Small Business Advocacy Review Panel , coordinated
by the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget,
states, "Almost all of the SERs (Small Entity Representatives) felt that costs of
compliance projected by OSHA were underestimated." OSHA admits aiming the standard
at small businesses but clearly intends to cover
all businesses, large and
small.
Summary of COSHRA Private-Sector Costs
The estimated annual private-sector costs for selected provisions of COSHRA are
$51.21 billion. These recurring costs can be broken down as follows:
- Safety and health programs = $19.89 billion
- Safety and health committees = $10.35 billion
- Safety and health training = $6.16 billion
- Litigation = $11.4 billion
- Recordkeeping and reporting = $3.32 billion
- Monetary penalties = $0.09 billion
- Total private sector costs = $51.21 billion
Employers would be required to identify, document and eliminate not only known hazards,
but
potential hazards they
should have known about, thus switching
evidentiary requirements to make
employers responsible for proving hazards
do not exist. OSHA inspectors could issue citations for
anything using
the safety and health standard, making enforcement of ergonomics or any other standard
unnecessary. Further, inspectors using subjective interpretations to fill in the
blanks ultimately will complete this wholesale rewrite of the OSH Act.
NRCA's position
NRCA supports incentive programs such as its Roofing Industry Partnership Program
for Safety and Health with OSHA. Congress should stop OSHA's Safety and Health Program
Standard and encourage the agency to emphasize genuine outreach and cooperation
with employers.
The other side
Organized labor supports the standard to boost agency enforcement and give employees
greater leverage with management than currently provided under the OSH and National
Labor Relations Acts.
(June 2001)