“A bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under such Act to public employees.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the definition of "employer" under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to include the United States, states, and political subdivisions of states (previously excluded), thereby extending direct OSHA coverage to federal, state, and local government employees previously addressed through separate executive orders or state plans. (As background, OSHA sets and enforces workplace safety standards for most private sector workers.) It includes a rule of construction clarifying that the amendment does not affect the application of OSHA section 18 (state plans that must be at least as effective as federal standards). The amendments take effect 90 days after enactment generally, or 36 months after enactment for workplaces of states or political subdivisions without an approved state plan under section 18.