[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8818 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8818
To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an
occupational safety and health standard to protect workers from wind-
related injuries.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 14, 2022
Ms. Bush (for herself, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Norton, Ms. Clarke of
New York, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Carson, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Lee of California,
and Mr. Blumenauer) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an
occupational safety and health standard to protect workers from wind-
related injuries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wind Safety Standard Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. OSHA SAFETY STANDARD FOR PROTECTION FROM HIGH WINDS.
(a) Proposed Standard.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant to
section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29
U.S.C. 655(b)), promulgate a proposed standard on prevention of
workplace injury from high winds.
(b) Final Standard.--Not later than 42 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate a final standard
on prevention of workplace injury from high winds that shall--
(1) provide no less protection than the most protective
wind protection standard adopted by a State plan that has been
approved by the Secretary under section 18 of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667) and, at a
minimum, include the requirements described in section 4; and
(2) be effective and enforceable in the same manner and to
the same extent as any standard promulgated under section 6(b)
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C.
655(b)).
(c) Interim Final Standard.--
(1) In general.--If the proposed standard described in
subsection (a) is not promulgated not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall
promulgate an interim final standard on prevention of workplace
injury from high winds not later than 2 years and 60 days after
such date of enactment--
(A) to require covered employers to develop and
implement a comprehensive workplace wind protection
plan to protect covered employees from excessive winds
that may lead to wind-related workplace injuries; and
(B) that shall, at a minimum--
(i) provide no less protection than the
most protective wind protection standard
adopted by a State plan that has been approved
by the Secretary under section 18 of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29
U.S.C. 667); and
(ii) include a requirement to protect
employees from discrimination or retaliation
for exercising the rights of the employees
under the interim final standard.
(2) Applicability of other statutory requirements.--The
following shall not apply to the promulgation of the interim
final standard under this subsection:
(A) The requirements applicable to occupational
safety and health standards under section 6(b) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C.
655(b)).
(B) The requirements of section 553(c) of chapter 5
and chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code.
(C) The requirements of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(3) Effective date of interim standard.--The interim final
standard shall--
(A) take effect on a date that is not later than 30
days after the promulgation of such standard, except
that such interim final standard may include a
reasonable phase-in period for the implementation of
required engineering controls that take effect after
such date;
(B) be enforced in the same manner and to the same
extent as any standard promulgated under section 6(b)
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29
U.S.C. 655(b)); and
(C) be in effect until the final standard described
in subsection (b) becomes effective and enforceable.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Covered employee.--The term ``covered employee''
includes an individual employed by a covered employer.
(2) Covered employer.--The term ``covered employer''--
(A) means an employer that employs an individual to
work at a covered workplace; and
(B) includes a contractor, subcontractor, a
temporary service firm, or an employee leasing entity.
(3) Covered workplace.--The term ``covered workplace''
includes a workplace with occupational exposure to high winds,
including--
(A) any workplace in which covered employees
perform services for a covered employer outdoors during
high winds; and
(B) any workplace in which covered employees
perform services for a covered employer indoors in any
case in which such covered employees may be at risk
during an extreme weather event involving high winds.
(4) Employer.--The term ``employer'' has the meaning given
the term in section 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652).
(5) High winds.--The term ``high winds'' means winds of
such velocity that one or more of the following hazards would
be present:
(A) The winds could blow an employee from an
elevated location.
(B) The winds could cause an employee or equipment
handling material to lose control of the material.
(C) The winds would expose an employee to other
hazards not controlled by the standard involved.
Winds exceeding 64.4 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour),
or 48.3 kilometers per hour (30 miles per hour) if the work
involves material handling, shall be presumed to be of such
velocity unless the employer takes precautions to protect
employees from the hazardous effects of the winds.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Labor.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR FINAL STANDARD ON PREVENTION OF OCCUPATIONAL
EXPOSURE TO HIGH WINDS.
(a) In General.--The final standard promulgated under section 2(b)
shall, at a minimum, include the requirements described in subsection
(b) with respect to covered employers.
(b) Requirements.--The final standard promulgated under section
2(b) shall, with respect to covered employers, include the following:
(1) Monitoring of wind conditions.--A covered employer
shall monitor wind conditions using data from the National
Weather Service.
(2) Employees working outdoors during high winds.--With
respect to each covered employee who performs services for a
covered employer outdoors during high winds--
(A) such employee shall receive training in work
with high winds, including training relating to--
(i) the impact on work at heights;
(ii) the impact of wind on certain
equipment such as lifts, cranes, scaffolding,
ladders, and mobile elevated work platforms;
(iii) the risk of foreign object debris;
and
(iv) the impact of wind on exposed skin and
the risk of wind burn;
(B) such employee shall not be required to work in
high winds without a safety harness system, tie-off
restraints, or other appropriate safety equipment;
(C) such employee shall not be required to use any
equipment that is not rated for the level of high winds
in which the employee is requested to work;
(D)(i) such employee shall have the right to refuse
to work in high winds and be assigned alternate work
without penalty in any case in which the employee
determines that high wind safety procedures are
inadequate to mitigate the risk of such work; and
(ii) in any such case, the employer shall conduct a
hazard assessment and immediately investigate and
correct any identified hazards and implement any
control measures as necessary to adequately mitigate
such risks;
(E) such employee--
(i) shall be instructed on how to properly
secure all tools and any other object that
could act as foreign object debris;
(ii) may not be required to work in high
winds if all such objects cannot be secured;
and
(iii) shall be provided with proper
personal protective equipment including eye
protection while working in high winds; and
(F) such employee--
(i) shall receive training on wind burn
prevention, identification, and treatment; and
(ii) shall be provided by the employer with
personal protective equipment at no cost to the
employee to prevent wind burn, except to the
extent such equipment would result in a net
increase of hazards to the employee.
(3) Employees working indoors and outdoors during extreme
weather events involving high winds.--With respect to each
covered employee who performs services for a covered employer
indoors or outdoors in any case in which such covered employee
may be at risk during an extreme weather event involving high
winds, the covered employer shall--
(A) develop, implement, and maintain a wind
emergency plan for each such employee, similar to an
emergency action plan described under section 1910.38
of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, which shall
include--
(i) an evacuation plan which details
employer and employee responsibilities;
(ii) a shelter in place plan, including a
plan for mobile workforce and employees at
remote or satellite locations;
(iii) specific plans for extreme weather
events such as tornadoes and hurricanes that
include a trigger to activate such plans and
appropriate training and drills;
(iv) specific plans for high-risk buildings
and mobile worksites (such as vehicles or
trailers), to be updated as needed upon
remodeling; and
(v) job protections for employees who
evacuate due to unsafe conditions;
(B) conduct a hazard assessment to identify unsafe
working conditions or hazardous equipment that can be
impacted when extreme weather advisories are issued;
and
(C) ensure that emergency shelters are designed and
built to industry best practices for performance
criteria like Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes
(FEMA P-361) or ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and
Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC-500).
(4) Training and education.--
(A) Employee training.--A covered employer shall
provide annual training and education to covered
employees who may be exposed to high winds, which shall
cover the following topics:
(i) Personal factors that may increase
susceptibility to high winds.
(ii) Signs and symptoms of wind-related
injury.
(iii) Engineering control measures.
(iv) Administrative control measures.
(v) Emergency response procedures.
(vi) Employee rights.
(B) Supervisor training.--In addition to the
training and education required in subparagraph (A),
training and education shall be provided annually to
covered employees who are supervisors that shall cover
the following topics:
(i) The procedures a supervisor is required
to follow under this Act.
(ii) How to recognize high-risk situations,
including how to monitor weather reports and
weather advisories, and not assigning an
employee to situations that predictably
compromise the safety of the employee.
(C) General training requirements.--The education
and training provided under this paragraph to covered
employees shall meet the following:
(i) In the case of such an employee whose
job circumstances have changed, within a
reasonable timeframe after such change of job
circumstances, education and training shall be
provided that shall be--
(I) in addition to the education
and training provided under clause
(ii), subparagraph (A), and, if
applicable to such employee,
subparagraph (B); and
(II) applicable to such change of
job circumstances.
(ii) Applicable education and training
shall be provided for each new covered employee
prior to the employee's job assignment.
(iii) The education and training shall
provide such employees opportunities to ask
questions, give feedback, and request
additional instruction, clarification, or other
follow-up.
(iv) The education and training shall be
provided by an individual with knowledge of
wind injury prevention and of the plan of the
employer under this section.
(v) The education and training shall be
appropriate in content and vocabulary to the
language, educational level, and literacy of
such covered employees.
(5) Recordkeeping.--Each covered employer shall--
(A) comply with all requirements under the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 relating to
the reporting of wind-related injuries;
(B) maintain at all times--
(i) records related to each plan of the
employer under paragraph (1), including high
wind risk and hazard assessments, and
identification, evaluation, correction, and
training procedures;
(ii) data on all wind-related injuries and
deaths; and
(iii) data on environmental and
physiological measurements related to high
winds; and
(C) make such records and data available, upon
request, to covered employees and their representatives
for examination and copying in accordance with section
1910.1020 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (as
such section is in effect on the date of enactment of
this Act).
(6) Whistleblower protections.--
(A) Policy.--Each covered employer shall adopt a
policy prohibiting any person (including an agent of
the employer) from discriminating or retaliating
against any employee for--
(i) exercising the rights of the employee
under this Act; or
(ii) reporting violations of the standard
to any local, State, or Federal government.
(B) Prohibition.--No covered employer shall
discriminate or retaliate against any employee for--
(i) reporting a high wind-related concern
to, or seeking assistance or intervention with
respect to high wind-related health symptoms
from, the employer, local emergency services,
or a local, State, or Federal government; or
(ii) exercising any other rights of the
employee under this Act.
(C) Enforcement.--This paragraph shall be enforced
in the same manner and to the same extent as any
standard promulgated under section 6(b) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C.
655(b)).
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