“(1) shall furnish employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to each employee of the employer or any other individual performing work at the place of employment; and”
“(B) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Protecting America’s Workers Act, the Secretary shall revise the regulations in part 1904 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, concerning the recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses under this Act, to require site-controlling employers to keep a site log for all recordable injuries and illnesses occurring among all employees on the particular site, including employees of the site-controlling employer or others who are performing work at the particular site (including independent contractors).
“(C) As used in this paragraph, the term site-controlling employer means the employer that has primary control over a worksite at which employees of more than one employer work, such as by hiring or coordinating the work of other employers working at the site.”
“(i) Investigation of fatalities and serious incidents
“(1) In general—The Secretary shall investigate any significant incident or an incident resulting in death that occurs in a place of employment.
“(2) Appropriate measures—If a significant incident or an incident resulting in death occurs in a place of employment, the employer shall promptly notify the Secretary of the incident involved and shall take appropriate measures to prevent the destruction or alteration of any evidence that would assist in investigating the incident. The appropriate measures required by this paragraph do not prevent an employer from taking action on a worksite to prevent injury to employees or substantial damage to property or to avoid disruption of essential services necessary to public safety. If an employer takes such action, the employer shall notify the Secretary of the action in a timely fashion.
“(3) Definitions—In this subsection:
“(A) Incident resulting in death—The term incident resulting in death means an incident that results in the death of an employee.
“(B) Significant incident—The term significant incident means an incident that results in the in-patient hospitalization of 2 or more employees for medical treatment.”
“(d) No citation for a violation of this Act may be issued, modified, or settled under this section without a designation enumerated in section 17 with respect to such violation.”
“9A. Victims' rights
“(a) Rights before the Secretary—A victim, or the representative of a victim, shall be afforded the right, with respect to an inspection or investigation conducted under section 8, to—
“(1) meet with the Secretary regarding the inspection or investigation conducted under such section before the Secretary’s decision to issue a citation or take no action;
“(2) receive, at no cost, a copy of any citation or report, issued as a result of such inspection or investigation, at the same time as the employer receives such citation or report;
“(3) be informed of any notice of contest or addition of parties to the proceedings filed under section 10(c); and
“(4) be provided notification of the date and time or any proceedings, service of pleadings, and other relevant documents, and an explanation of the rights of the employer, employee and employee representative, and victim to participate in proceedings conducted under section 10(c).
“(b) Rights before the Commission—Upon request, a victim or representative of a victim shall be afforded the right with respect to a work-related bodily injury or death to—
“(1) be notified of the time and date of any proceeding before the Commission;
“(2) receive pleadings and any decisions relating to the proceedings; and
“(3) be provided an opportunity to appear and make a statement in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Commission.
“(c) Modification of citation—Before entering into an agreement to withdraw or modify a citation issued as a result of an inspection or investigation of an incident under section 8, the Secretary shall notify a victim or representative of a victim and provide the victim or representative of a victim with an opportunity to appear and make a statement before the parties conducting settlement negotiations. In lieu of an appearance, the victim or representative of the victim may elect to submit a letter to the Secretary and the parties.
“(d) Secretary Procedures—The Secretary shall establish procedures—
“(1) to inform victims of their rights under this section; and
“(2) for the informal review of any claim of a denial of such a right.
“(e) Commission procedures and considerations—The Commission shall—
“(1) establish procedures relating to the rights of victims to be heard in proceedings before the Commission; and
“(2) in rendering any decision, provide due consideration to any statement or information provided by any victim before the Commission.
“(f) Family liaisons—The Secretary shall designate at least 1 employee at each area office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to serve as a family liaison to—
“(1) keep victims informed of the status of investigations, enforcement actions, and settlement negotiations; and
“(2) assist victims in asserting their rights under this section.
“(g) Definition—In this section, the term victim means—
“(1) an employee, including a former employee, who has sustained a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an inspection or investigation conducted under section 8; or
“(2) a family member (as further defined by the Secretary) of a victim described in paragraph (1), if—
“(A) the victim dies as a result of a incident that is the subject of an inspection or investigation conducted under section 8; or
“(B) the victim sustains a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an inspection or investigation conducted under section 8, and the victim because of incapacity cannot reasonably exercise the rights under this section.”
“(d) Correction of serious, willful, or repeated violations pending contest and procedures for a stay
“(1) Period permitted for correction of serious, willful, or repeated violations—For each violation which the Secretary designates as serious, willful, or repeated, the period permitted for the correction of the violation shall begin to run upon receipt of the citation.
“(2) Filing of a motion of contest—The filing of a notice of contest by an employer—
“(A) shall not operate as a stay of the period for correction of a violation designated as serious, willful, or repeated; and
“(B) may operate as a stay of the period for correction of a violation not designated by the Secretary as serious, willful, or repeated.
“(3) Criteria and rules of procedure for stays
“(A) Motion for a stay—An employer that receives a citation alleging a violation designated as serious, willful, or repeated and that files a notice of contest to the citation asserting that the time set for abatement of the alleged violation is unreasonable or challenging the existence of the alleged violation may file with the Commission a motion to stay the period for the abatement of the violation.
“(B) Criteria—In determining whether a stay should be issued on the basis of a motion filed under subparagraph (A), the Commission may grant a stay only if the employer has demonstrated—
“(i) a substantial likelihood of success on the areas contested under subparagraph (A); and
“(ii) that a stay will not adversely affect the health and safety of workers.
“(C) Rules of procedure—The Commission shall develop rules of procedure for conducting a hearing on a motion filed under subparagraph (A) on an expedited basis. At a minimum, such rules shall provide:
“(i) That a hearing before an administrative law judge shall occur not later than 15 days following the filing of the motion for a stay (unless extended at the request of the employer), and shall provide for a decision on the motion not later than 15 days following the hearing (unless extended at the request of the employer).
“(ii) That a decision of an administrative law judge on a motion for stay is rendered on a timely basis.
“(iii) That if a party is aggrieved by a decision issued by an administrative law judge regarding the stay, such party has the right to file an objection with the Commission not later than 5 days after receipt of the administrative law judge’s decision. Within 10 days after receipt of the objection, a Commissioner, if a quorum is seated pursuant to section 12(f), shall decide whether to grant review of the objection. If, within 10 days after receipt of the objection, no decision is made on whether to review the decision of the administrative law judge, the Commission declines to review such decision, or no quorum is seated, the decision of the administrative law judge shall become a final order of the Commission. If the Commission grants review of the objection, the Commission shall issue a decision regarding the stay not later than 30 days after receipt of the objection. If the Commission fails to issue such decision within 30 days, the decision of the administrative law judge shall become a final order of the Commission.
“(iv) For notification to employees or representatives of affected employees of requests for such hearings and shall provide affected employees or representatives of affected employees an opportunity to participate as parties to such hearings.”
“(d) Any employer who fails to correct a violation designated by the Secretary as serious, willful, or repeated and for which a citation has been issued under section 9(a) within the period permitted for its correction (and a stay has not been issued by the Commission under section 10(d)) may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $7,000 for each day during which such failure or violation continues. Any employer who fails to correct any other violation for which a citation has been issued under section 9(a) within the period permitted for its correction (which period shall not begin to run until the date of the final order of the Commission in the case of any review proceeding under section 10 initiated by the employer in good faith and not solely for delay of avoidance of penalties) may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $7,000 for each day during which such failure or violation continues.”
“(e) Amounts provided under this section for civil penalties shall be adjusted by the Secretary at least once during each 4-year period beginning January 1, 2015, to account for the percentage increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers during such period.”
“(f)
“(1) Any employer who knowingly violates any standard, rule, or order promulgated under section 6 of this Act, or of any regulation prescribed under this Act, and that violation caused or significantly contributed to the death of any employee, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or by imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both, except that if the conviction is for a violation committed after a first conviction of such person under this subsection or subsection (j), punishment shall be by a fine in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or by imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or by both.
“(2) For the purpose of this subsection, the term employer means, in addition to the definition contained in section 3 of this Act, any officer or director.”
“(g) Unless otherwise authorized by this Act, any person that knowingly gives, causes to give, or attempts to give or cause to give, advance notice of any inspection conducted under this Act with the intention of impeding, interfering with, or adversely affecting the results of such inspection, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.”
“(k)
“(1) Any employer who knowingly violates any standard, rule, or order promulgated under section 6, or any regulation prescribed under this Act, and that violation caused or significantly contributed to serious bodily harm to any employee but does not cause death to any employee, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or by both, except that if the conviction is for a violation committed after a first conviction of such person under this subsection or subsection (e), punishment shall be by a fine in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or by imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or by both.
“(2) For the purpose of this subsection, the term employer means, in addition to the definition contained in section 3 of this Act, any officer or director.
“(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term serious bodily harm means bodily injury or illness that involves—
“(A) a substantial risk of death;
“(B) protracted unconsciousness;
“(C) protracted and obvious physical disfigurement; or
“(D) protracted loss or impairment, either temporary or permanent, of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.”
“(o) Nothing in this Act shall preclude a State or local law enforcement agency from conducting criminal prosecutions in accordance with the laws of such State or locality.”