On Wednesday, the House Committee on Education and Labor voted 30-17 to approve the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663), (pdf) legislation that – in addition to addressing mine safety – would significantly increase employer civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, strengthen whistleblower protections and provide greater rights for victims of accidents and their family members to participate in proceedings under the OSH Act. The bill also would require employers, upon receipt of a citation, to abate the alleged violation and establish a process for a Motion to Stay abatement wherein the employer would have to meet the preliminary injunction standard of proving "substantial likelihood of success" in defeating the citation.

The vote followed a markup session during which members further considered the bill.

In his opening statement, (pdf) Chairman George Miller (D-CA) noted that:

[u]nder the bill, civil penalties will be increased for the second time in 40 years and indexed to inflation like nearly every other federal law. Strong whistleblower protections in this legislation granted to miners will be extended to all workers. And the requirement that employers abate health and safety hazards pending an appeal will be extended to all workplaces, not just mines.

During the markup hearing, a number of amendments to the bill were submitted (copies of which can be found here) including an amendment to strike the OSHA provisions which was defeated.

The bill is expected to be considered on the House Floor next week.

For more information on this legislation, see Littler’s ASAP: New Federal Safety and Health Act Legislation Proposed by Thomas Benjamin Huggett, Ilyse Schuman, and Jennifer Mora.

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