H.R. 5663 should be opposed for the following reasons: • Workplace injury, illness and fatality rates are at all time lows thanks to the 15-year long bipartisan approach to workplace safety started by the Clinton Administration. H.R. 5663 will hamper continued construction industry safety improvements through increased litigation and discouragement of cooperative relationships. • Most companies are in fact not "bad actors." This legislation would create vague new standards for criminal conduct and establish new penalties that will likely lead to more costly litigation. • The legislation would allow OSHA inspectors to order a work stoppage at a jobsite without showing imminent danger or affording employers with proper due process. • H.R. 5663 creates a new and unnecessarily complex whistleblower paradigm. Action Needed: Please take a minute and use the tools on the AGC Legislative Action Center to write your elected officials in opposition to H.R. 5663.
H.R. 5663, The Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010, was recently introduced in response to the tragic mine accident in West Virginia. However, the legislation also seeks to make drastic changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by turning back the clock on well over 15 years of progress in improved workplace safety and creating a more adversarial relationship between employers and OSHA. The bill focuses solely on introducing vague new standards for criminal liability and imposes complicated and costly procedures for adjudicating whistleblower cases.