“To authorize the Department of Labor's voluntary protection program.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the Michael Enzi Voluntary Protection Program under the Secretary of Labor to recognize employers implementing comprehensive workplace safety and health management systems, including hazard assessments, prevention programs, management and employee participation, and training. (As background, the program builds on OSHA's existing Voluntary Protection Programs, which exempt qualifying worksites from routine programmed inspections in exchange for demonstrated safety excellence.) The program requires employer applications, annual self-evaluations, onsite evaluations without citations (with serious hazards corrected within 90 days or as practicable), information sharing with employees, periodic reevaluations, and oversight by designated OSHA personnel; participating worksites are exempt from programmed inspections, with no participation fees required. This section further directs the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health to develop documentation policies on incident follow-ups, internal compliance controls, and performance measures for the program; requires a written plan within two years to modernize program administration technology (e.g., applications, self-evaluations, audits); establishes a no-cost tiered safety and health management system challenge program; and provides for an orderly transition from OSHA's preexisting voluntary protection program.