§425 Rights and Protections Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; Procedures for Remedy of Violations

Summary

Employing offices and covered employees must follow the health and safety rules found in section 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. In this law, "employer" means an employing office and "employee" means a covered employee. If a rule is broken, the fix is an order to correct the problem, like the orders under section 13(a) of the Act. If an employing office or covered employee asks in writing, the Secretary of Labor can inspect and investigate workplaces under the parts of section 8 mentioned in the law. The Secretary can issue citations or notices under sections 9 and 10 to the employing office that must fix a violation or that did not fix one. After a citation, the employing office has 15 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays) to tell the Secretary it will contest it. If it does not, the citation becomes a final order. If it contests in time, it can get a hearing before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission under section 10(c). An employing office can ask for a variance under sections 6(b)(6) and 6(d). A final decision by the Review Commission or the Secretary can be reviewed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit under section 1296 of title 28. If new appropriated funds are needed to fix a violation, the correction must happen as soon as possible but no later than the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year when the citation was issued or the correction order became final. The President or a designee must issue rules to carry out these requirements. Those rules should match the Secretary of Labor’s rules unless the President shows good cause to change them or uses section 19 rules for executive-branch employees. The rules must also show which employing office is responsible for each type of violation. Subsections (a) through (c) take effect when those rules take effect or on October 1, 1998, whichever comes first.