Skip to main content
HR 1583 108th Congress House Labor and Employment Administrative remedies Delegation of powers Evidence (Law) Executive reorganization Fines (Penalties) Government Operations and Politics Health Judicial review Law Legal fees Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Occupational health and safety Presidential appointments

Occupational Safety and Health-Fairness Act of 2003

Introduced: April 3, 2003 See on congress.gov
This bill died when the 108th Congress ended
It never became law before the 108th Congress (2003–2004) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 4 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jun 17, 2003
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
May 2, 2003
Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Apr 3, 2003
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Apr 3, 2003
Introduced in House
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service
Occupational Safety and Health Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to revise requirements relating to enforcing, contesting, reviewing, and adjudicating citations, failures to correct violations, and assessments of penalties.

Exempts employers from a 15-day deadline for notifying the Secretary of Labor of their intent to contest OSHA citations, notices of uncorrected violations, and proposed penalties, if their failure to meet such deadline results from mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.

Limits what may be considered willful violations under OSHA.

Requires the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) to give de novo consideration to evidence of the penalty's appropriateness with respect to these factors: (1) size and financial condition of the business of the employer; (2) gravity of the violation, considering probability of harm, nature and extent of the harm, number of affected employees, and other relevant factors; (3) employer's good faith, including efforts to comply or abate; (4) history and recentness of substantially similar previous violations of the cited employer at the same nonconstruction worksite and construction worksites in the same State; and (5) the employer's, employees', or other persons' degree of responsibility or culpability for the violation.

Increases OSHRC membership from three to five.

Awards attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing employer in an administrative adversary adjudication, or a judicial review of an action, instituted under OSHA, if at the time such adjudication was initiated or such action filed the employer had not more than: (1) 100 employees; and (2) $1,500,000 net worth.

Revises judicial review provisions to require deference to be given to reasonable OSHRC conclusions with respect to all questions of law.

What's happening now June 17, 2003

Subcommittee Hearings Held.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 1583: Occupational Safety and Health-Fairness Act of 2003. 108th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1583/
MLA
"H.R. 1583: Occupational Safety and Health-Fairness Act of 2003." 108th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1583/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 1583, 108th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1583/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 1583: Occupational Safety and Health-Fairness Act of 2003](https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1583/)
Report a problem