Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1990

openUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

4 May 1989

Last action

27 October 1990 · Reported

Status

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 1028.

Summary

Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to establish in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (the Office) to ensure safe and healthy working conditions in the performance of construction work. Provides that the Office shall be headed by a Director appointed by the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary). Directs the Secretary to employ additional OSHA inspectors to carry out Office duties. Requires the Director to designate an Office employee to serve as small business liaison. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations providing for certain exemptions from this Act for specified types of construction projects, operations, or construction contractors, conditioned on compliance with alternative requirements capable of promoting employee safety and health. Directs the Secretary to establish an effective and fair system for construction worksite inspections, concentrating resources on construction worksites and operations with a high potential for fatalities or serious injuries and illnesses. Requires, when establishing inspection priorities, that due weight be given to employer compliance with standards and recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Gives priority to inspection of projects and worksites of owners and employers having a higher than average incidence or severity of injuries or illnesses for the type of construction involved. Requires each construction contractor to maintain accurate records of accidents and injuries at a construction worksite. Requires an employer to report to the appropriate regional office of OSHA by telephone or telegraph, within 24 hours after its occurrence, any incident involving construction work that results in: (1) a serious injury; (2) a fatality; (3) a structural failure that leads to the collapse of a place of employment; or (4) a potential collapse of a place of employment. Requires the employer to submit a written followup report with specified information. Directs the Secretary to conduct site inspections to investigate all such reports, as well as all reports of those categories of serious injuries the Secretary prescribes. Requires such inspections within 24 hours after receipt of the telephone or telegraph report, unless site conditions would make inspection dangerous. Requires the construction contractor to prevent destruction of evidence. Directs the Secretary to make public a narrative description of the occurrence. Requires the construction safety specialist to provide the Secretary with a notice containing specified information on a construction project prior to commencement of work, unless it is necessary to perform such work immediately to prevent injury to persons and notice is given to the Secretary as soon as practicable. Requires the construction safety specialist, at project completion at one-year intervals during the project, to report to the Secretary all fatalities and serious injuries and illnesses and all structural failures. Directs the Secretary to issue standard forms for such purposes. Requires a construction contractor to establish a written safety and health program, to be managed by a construction safety specialist or other employee of the contractor. Sets forth the requirements of such a program, including evaluations of perceived hazardous conditions and analyses of perceived harmful material or substances. Requires such evaluations and analyses to be conducted, upon an employee's or employee representative's request, by a construction safety professional and to be reported or denied in writing. Requires a construction contractor to develop and maintain an onsite project safety and health plan for each construction project that: (1) includes a construction process plan; (2) includes a hazard analysis; and (3) meets other specified requirements. Requires the construction safety specialist to provide a copy of the plan to each employer on the project before work commences. Requires the construction safety specialist to notify the responsible contractors of, and direct them to correct, any hazards, violations of safety or health law, or failure to comply with the program. Requires such notification to be reduced to writing as soon as practicable, with copies provided to the responsible contractors and, upon request, to all affected employers, employees, employee representatives, and the Secretary. Requires a construction contractor to ensure that a construction safety specialist is hired and retained and performs the duties prescribed by the Act at a construction worksite. Gives the construction contractor overall responsibility for the safety of the construction worksite with respect to construction safety, rules, and practices. Requires the contractor to ensure that subcontractors and supervisors are informed of the construction safety specialist's identity and duties, and to require them to comply with the specialist's health and safety policies at the worksite. Requires a construction safety specialist to: (1) ensure worksite compliance with the onsite plan and with guidelines of the Secretary and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health; (2) maintain a detailed worksite safety report; and (3) upon discovery of a hazard, order the contractor to eliminate it and inform the contractor, owner, and Secretary of any imminent dangers. Sets forth required qualifications of a construction safety specialist. Sets forth other responsibilities of a specialist. Establishes in OSHA a Construction Safety and Health Training Academy, to be headed by a Director appointed by the Secretary. Directs the Academy to: (1) train employees of the Office who conduct construction worksite inspections; and (2) train and certify construction safety specialists who have fulfilled requirements of a standardized training course and testing program. Revises Federal law relating to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Increases criminal penalties for any employer's willful violations of such Act which result in serious injury or death to an employee. Makes employers who cause such results through specified criminal negligence also liable to such penalties. Amends the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act to grant the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health specified powers to carry out its functions. Directs the President, in the budget message, to separate the appropriation account for construction industry safety activities from that of nonconstruction activities under such Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

4 May 1989
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
Source: IntroReferral
4 May 1989
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
26 September 1989
Referred
Referred to Subcommittee on Labor.
Source: Committee
16 November 1989
Committee
Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 101-728.
Source: Committee
26 September 1990
Reported
Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Source: Committee
27 October 1990
Calendars
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 1028.
Source: Calendars
27 October 1990
Reported
Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Reported to Senate by Senator Kennedy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. With written report No. 101-558. Minority views filed.
Source: Committee
27 October 1990
Reported
Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Reported to Senate by Senator Kennedy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. With written report No. 101-558. Minority views filed.
Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Introduced in Senate · — · Download file

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in Senate (text)

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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN
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Reported to Senate with amendment(s)
summary · EN · 27 October 1990
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 4 May 1989
Open at official source
Leesvertaling
Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.
Vertaal naar
Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

Related records

related to → Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1989

Sources

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Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/930
Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/101/s/930
us · 101-s-930 · source updated 21 April 2025