Workplace safety law would change in several major ways under this update to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Federal, state, and local government workers would gain OSHA coverage for the first time, and the law would newly protect workers from retaliation for reporting injuries, raising safety concerns, or refusing dangerous work, with up to 180 days to file a complaint and the right to reinstatement, back pay, and a jury trial. Maximum civil fines would rise sharply — willful or repeated violations from $70,000 to $700,000, and the minimum willful fine from $5,000 to $50,000 — with annual inflation adjustments. Criminal penalties would grow too: a knowing violation that causes a worker's death could bring up to 10 years in prison (up from six months today), a new offense for violations causing serious injury could bring up to 5 years, and company officers and directors could be charged personally. Employers would have to report workplace deaths and hospitalizations to OSHA and electronically file injury records that the government would post in a public, searchable database. The bill also creates formal rights for injured workers and victims' families to take part in inspections and enforcement proceedings, bars employers from forcing these claims into pre-dispute arbitration, and orders the Government Accountability Office to review how well state-run safety programs work.
Corporate Benefits
- civil penalty ceiling for willful or repeated violations — $70,000 to $700,000
- minimum penalty for willful violations — $5,000 to $50,000
- annual inflation adjustment of OSHA civil penalties
- per-employee counting of violations — each exposed worker a separate penalty
- employer ability to enforce pre-dispute arbitration of safety claims
Average Household Impact
- OSHA safety coverage extended to federal, state, and local workers
- worker pay protection during inspections — counts as hours worked
- injured workers' and families' participation rights in OSHA enforcement
Civil Liberties
- right to a jury trial for OSHA retaliation claims in district court
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- prison term for fatal willful safety violations — 6 months to 10 years
- prison term for advance notice of inspections — 6 months to 5 years
- prison term for false statements under the Act — 6 months to 5 years
- new criminal offense for serious-injury safety violations — up to 5 years
- criminal liability extended to corporate officers and directors
Transparency & Accountability
- whistleblower retaliation protections for workers reporting hazards
- public searchable database of employer injury and death records
- employer duty to report workplace deaths and hospitalizations to OSHA
- GAO reviews of state safety-plan effectiveness
Congressional Summary
Protecting America's Workers ActThis bill expands the coverage of requirements governing workplace safety and health to include protection for federal, state, and local government employees. However, the bill does not cover working conditions otherwise covered by federal requirements for mine safety and health.The bill revises requirements governing worker protection, including byexpanding protections for whistle-blowers, such as protections for employees who refuse to perform work because they reasonably believe the work would result in serious injury or illness and for employees who aid inspections;directing employers to furnish a hazard-free place of employment to all individuals performing work, not just employees;directing employers to report work-related deaths or certain injuries, illnesses, or hospitalizations;establishing rights for victims, or representatives of victims, with respect to inspections or investigations of work-related bodily injuries or deaths; andsetting the permitted period for employers to correct serious, willful, or repeated violations while citations for the violations are being contested.The bill also revises enforcement and oversight of workplace safety, including byincreasing civil and criminal penalties for certain violations,requiring the Department of Labor to investigate fatalities or significant incidents in the workplace,expanding enforcement requirements relating to state occupational safety and health plans,expanding requirements for workplace health hazard evaluations by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, andrequiring Labor to provide training programs concerning employee rights and employer responsibilities.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-04-28
- Date Added
- 2026-06-08
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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