Federal regulations update: New OSHA legislation avoids confrontation and penalties; NLRB commissioner resigns
✍ Scribed by John J. Gallagher
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 267 KB
- Volume
- 25
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0745-7790
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
New Osha Legislation
OSHA reform, aimed at ending the adversarial relationship between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the businesses it regulates, has been passed in two separate but related bills. They have the support of management, labor, and the White House. They reached final passage just before the July 4 recess and were signed by the President on July 16. The two new laws mark the first changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Act since its inception in 1970. The only other significant change, which did not entail direct amendment of the law, was an increase in fines during the Bush administration. In 1992, President Clinton and Democrats sought unsuccessfully to increase OSHA's statutory enforcement authority and penalties. In contrast, Republicans had introduced sweeping legislation to change OSHA's focus away from enforcement and toward conciliation. The legislation passed by the 105th Congress is a scaled-down version of the Republicans' earlier proposals.