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S 2066 109th Congress Senate

Occupational Safety Fairness Act

Official title: A bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to further improve the safety and health of working environments, and for other purposes.

Introduced: November 18, 2005 See on congress.gov
Labor and Employment Administrative procedureAdministrative remediesCommerceDepartment of Labor
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Employers' liabilityEquipment and suppliesFacsimile transmissionFederal officialsFines (Penalties)Government Operations and PoliticsGovernment paperworkGovernmental investigationsHealthJudicial reviewLawLegal feesLimitation of actionsOccupational Safety and Health Review CommissionOccupational health and safety
This bill died when the 109th Congress ended
It never became law before the 109th Congress (2005–2006) 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 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Nov 18, 2005
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13374-13375)
Nov 18, 2005
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13370-13371)
Nov 18, 2005
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action November 18, 2005

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13374-13375)

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Occupational Safety Fairness Act - 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.

Permits alternative compliance methods by employers.

Authorizes the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary's representative to: (1) provide technical or compliance assistance to an employer in correcting a violation; (2) issue a warning instead of a citation for violations that have no significant relationship to employee safety or health, and in cases where an employer in good faith acts promptly to abate a violation that is not willful or repeated; (3) attempt to contact an employer by telephone, facsimile, or other methods, in investigating an alleged danger or violation, to determine if corrective action has been taken or if there are reasonable grounds to believe a hazard exists; and (4) not conduct an inspection if the Secretary believes either that the request for the inspection was made for reasons other than employee health and safety or that the employees are not at risk.

Increases the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) membership from three to five, and sets forth a legal training requirement.

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) $7,000,000 net worth.

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

Prescribes requirements relating to contesting citations, correcting conditions, written statements following inspections, time periods for issuing or contesting citations, penalties for other than serious citations, unanticipated conduct, adoption of nongovernmental standards, and employee responsibility.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 2066: Occupational Safety Fairness Act. 109th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-2066/
MLA
"S. 2066: Occupational Safety Fairness Act." 109th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-2066/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 2066, 109th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-2066/.
Markdown link
[S. 2066: Occupational Safety Fairness Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-2066/)
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