The U.S. Chamber and its allies oppose legislation to expand the reach of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), mandate higher penalties, and require employers to pay for all personal protective equipment.

The Protecting America's Workers Act, introduced in both the House and Senate, would increase civil penalties for OSHA regulation violations to as much as $250,000, and such penalties would be indexed to inflation. In addition, the legislation would expand OSHA to cover 8.5 million employees currently not covered, including state and local public employees, and
would expand whistle-blower protections.

"Increased penalties would create a more contentious relationship between employers and the agency and would take the focus away from improving safety in the workplace," according to Marc Freedman, director of labor policy at the Chamber. "This is especially true for small businesses, for which these regulations already are a significant burden and who need the most help implementing strong safety programs."

More penalties and oversight are unwarranted judging by the positive trend in workplace safety, Freedman adds. "Workplace injury and illness rates have been declining steadily and are now at their lowest levels. This legislation would do nothing to lower these rates further."

The Chamber is a co-chair of the OSHA Fairness Coalition, which represents employer interests in dealing with OSHA. In 2005, the coalition pushed legislation that would have allowed businesses to recover attorneys' fees when they prevail against an OSHA  citation and would have reformed the OSHA Review Commission, among other changes. The measures cleared the House but stalled in the Senate.

To learn more about OSHA reform, go to www.uschamber.com/osha.