OSHA Finally Forced to Issue Rule Protecting Workers

It took nine years, a lawsuit and some 400,000 injured workers before the Bush administration had its arm twisted hard enough to issue a rule requiring employers to pay for personal protective gear for workers in dangerous jobs.

The rule, requiring employers to pay for such items as hard hats, lifelines, face shields and gloves, was first proposed in 1999. Then the Bush administration came to power and the rule was abandoned. A lawsuit by the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers and a congressional deadline have now forced the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to act.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said that workers in some of America's most dangerous industries, such as meatpacking, poultry and construction, "have been vulnerable to being forced by their employers to pay for their own safety gear because of OSHA's failure to finish the rule."

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, said,  "It should have never taken the threat of a lawsuit and legislation to get the Department of Labor to take these simple steps to protect workers from everyday jobsite hazards and prevent thousands of workplace injuries each year."