6. Occupational Safety and Health Standards
29 USC 655: |
|||
(a)
Without regard to chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, or to
the other subsections of this section, the Secretary shall, as
soon as practicable during the period beginning with the effective
date of this Act and ending two years after such date, by rule
promulgate as an occupational safety or health standard any
national consensus standard, and any established Federal standard,
unless he determines that the promulgation of such a standard
would not result in improved safety or health for specifically
designated employees. In the event of conflict among any such
standards, the Secretary shall promulgate the standard which
assures the greatest protection of the safety or health of the
affected employees. |
|||
|
(1)
Whenever the Secretary, upon the basis of information submitted to
him in writing by an interested person, a representative of any
organization of employers or employees, a nationally recognized
standards-producing organization, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, or a State or political subdivision, or on the basis of
information developed by the Secretary or otherwise available to
him, determines that a rule should be promulgated in order to
serve the objectives of this Act, the Secretary may request the
recommendations of an advisory committee appointed under section 7
of this Act. The Secretary shall provide such an advisory
committee with any proposals of his own or of the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, together with all pertinent factual
information developed by the Secretary or the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, or otherwise available, including the results
of research, demonstrations, and experiments. An advisory
committee shall submit to the Secretary its recommendations
regarding the rule to be promulgated within ninety days from the
date of its appointment or within such longer or shorter period as
may be prescribed by the Secretary, but in no event for a period
which is longer than two hundred and seventy days. |
||
|
|
(i)
he is unable to comply with a standard by its effective date
because of unavailability of professional or technical personnel
or of materials and equipment needed to come into compliance with
the standard or because necessary construction or alteration of
facilities cannot be completed by the effective date, |
|
|
Any temporary order issued under this paragraph shall prescribe the practices, means, methods, operations, and processes which the employer must adopt and use while the order is in effect and state in detail his program for coming into compliance with the standard. Such a temporary order may be granted only after notice to employees and an opportunity for a hearing: Provided, That the Secretary may issue one interim order to be effective until a decision is made on the basis of the hearing. No temporary order may be in effect for longer than the period needed by the employer to achieve compliance with the standard or one year, whichever is shorter, except that such an order may be renewed not more that twice (I) so long as the requirements of this paragraph are met and (II) if an application for renewal is filed at least 90 days prior to the expiration date of the order. No interim renewal of an order may remain in effect for longer than 180 days. |
||
|
|
(B)
An application for temporary order under this paragraph (6) shall
contain: |
|
|
(7) Any standard promulgated under this subsection shall prescribe the use of labels or other appropriate forms of warning as are necessary to insure that employees are apprised of all hazards to which they are exposed, relevant symptoms and appropriate emergency treatment, and proper conditions and precautions of safe use or exposure. Where appropriate, such standard shall also prescribe suitable protective equipment and control or technological procedures to be used in connection with such hazards and shall provide for monitoring or measuring employee exposure at such locations and intervals, and in such manner as may be necessary for the protection of employees. In addition, where appropriate, any such standard shall prescribe the type and frequency of medical examinations or other tests which shall be made available, by the employer or at his cost, to employees exposed to such hazards in order to most effectively determine whether the health of such employees is adversely affected by such exposure. In the event such medical examinations are in the nature of research, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, such examinations may be furnished at the expense of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The results of such examinations or tests shall be furnished only to the Secretary or the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and, at the request of the employee, to his physician. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, may by rule promulgated pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, make appropriate modifications in the foregoing requirements relating to the use of labels or other forms of warning, monitoring or measuring, and medical examinations, as may be warranted by experience, information, or medical or technological developments acquired subsequent to the promulgation of the relevant standard. |
||
|
(8) Whenever a rule promulgated by the Secretary differs substantially from an existing national consensus standard, the Secretary shall, at the same time, publish in the Federal Register a statement of the reasons why the rule as adopted will better effectuate the purposes of this Act than the national consensus standard. |
||
(c) (1) The Secretary shall provide, without regard to the requirements of chapter 5, title 5, Unites States Code, for an emergency temporary standard to take immediate effect upon publication in the Federal Register if he determines -- |
|||
|
|
(A)
that employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to
substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful
or from new hazards, and |
|
|
(2)
Such standard shall be effective until superseded by a standard
promulgated in accordance with the procedures prescribed in
paragraph (3) of this subsection. |
||
(d)
Any affected employer may apply to the Secretary for a rule or
order for a variance from a standard promulgated under this
section. Affected employees shall be given notice of each such
application and an opportunity to participate in a hearing. The
Secretary shall issue such rule or order if he determines on the
record, after opportunity for an inspection where appropriate and
a hearing, that the proponent of the variance has demonstrated by
a preponderance of the evidence that the conditions, practices,
means, methods, operations, or processes used or proposed to be
used by an employer will provide employment and places of
employment to his employees which are as safe and healthful as
those which would prevail if he complied with the standard. The
rule or order so issued shall prescribe the conditions the
employer must maintain, and the practices, means, methods,
operations, and processes which he must adopt and utilize to the
extent they differ from the standard in question. Such a rule or
order may be modified or revoked upon application by an employer,
employees, or by the Secretary on his own motion, in the manner
prescribed for its issuance under this subsection at any time
after six months from its issuance. |
File Type | application/msword |
Author | jamaa |
Last Modified By | jhill |
File Modified | 2006-07-31 |
File Created | 2005-09-27 |