ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070052
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
A Republican proposal to overhaul federal workplace safety rules could exempt three out of every four employers from random inspections, Democrats and labor unions claimed Wednesday.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the proposed exemptions could deny Occupational Safety and Health Administration protections for up to 40 million workers.
``Inspections and strong enforcement have led to significant decreases in job fatalities and injuries,'' Sweeney said in a written statement distributed at a Senate committee hearing. ``This progress would be reversed and more workers could be killed or injured.''
Unions object to part of the Senate Republican bill that would exempt employers from inspections if they have 10 or fewer employees and a good safety record, if they hire an outside consultant to certify their safety protections or if their injury rate is below the average for that particular industry.
Opponents say this last provision could jeopardize safety in inherently dangerous industries, such as meatpacking plants in which the average number of workers injured or ill per year is 39 percent.
``This bill gets OSHA out of the business of inspecting our nation's worst violators of health and safety laws,'' said Deborah Berkowitz, a safety official with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
The AFL-CIO estimated that 73 percent of the nation's employers could find some way to be exempt from OSHA inspections under the GOP bill. Its figures came directly from the agency.
Republican supporters, including Sens. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas and Christopher Bond of Missouri, argued the bill aims to cut red tape and end federal inspection quotas while still protecting workers from injury.
``No one would want to do away with worker health and safety,'' said Kassebaum, chairwoman of the Labor and Human Resources Committee, during a joint hearing on the issue with the Small Business Committee.
Bond, chairmen of the Small Business Committee, said OSHA currently has only about 1,000 inspectors, far too few to conduct meaningful random inspections. He said OSHA will still inspect work sites based on employee complaints or accidents and that the consultants hired by companies will result in better safety.
No vote was taken Wednesday on the Senate bill. Its House counterpart, which has drawn even more fire from labor unions, also has yet to come to a committee vote.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB