S. 1580 (111th): Protecting America’s Workers Act

Introduced:
Aug 05, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy [D-MA]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on August 5, 2009, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Aug 05, 2009
Referred to Committee Aug 05, 2009
Cosponsors
24 cosponsors (22D, 2I) (show)
Committees

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Aug 05, 2009.
23 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

8/5/2009--Introduced.
Protecting America's Workers Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to expand its coverage to federal, state, and local government employees.
Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under specified conditions, to cede OSHA jurisdiction to another federal agency with respect to certain occupational standards or regulations for such agency's employees.
Declares OSHA inapplicable to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Heath Act of 1977.
Sets forth increased protections for whistle blowers under OSHA. Sets forth provisions relating to:
(1) the posting of employee rights;
(2) a prohibition against the adoption or implementation of policies or practices by employers that discourage the reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses or that discriminate or provide for adverse action against any employee for reporting such injury or illness;
(3) a prohibition against the loss of wages or employee benefits as a result of an employee participating in or aiding workplace inspections;
(4) investigations of incidents in a place of employment resulting in a death or the hospitalization of two or more employees;
(5) a prohibition against designating a citation for an occupational health and safety standard violation as an unclassified citation;
(6) the rights of an employee who has sustained a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an investigation;
(7) an employer's right to contest citations and penalties;
(8) the Secretary's assertion of an employer's failure to correct a serious hazard during an employer's contest to a citation; and
(9) employee objections to modifications of citations.
Increases civil and criminal penalties for certain OSHA violators.
Requires a state that has an approved plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards to amend its plan to conform to the requirements of this Act within 12 months after enactment of this Act.

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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