As President Trump continues to issue executive orders to undo overreaching regulations implemented over the past eight years, Alabama Representative Bradley Byrne is also attempting to slash one of the Obama Administration’s harmful “power grabs.”
As the chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Rep. Byrne introduced a resolution rejecting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) unlawful “Volks” rule from implementation.
The OSHA rule forces businesses to keep more extensive records of workplace injuries, and threatens greater penalty for failing to do so. The controversial mandate has been on the losing end of two federal court cases, which had originated after individual businesses faced massive citations for clerical errors that took place years prior.
Byrne says that overturning the unconstitutional rule will encourage a more “proactive” approach to worker health and safety policies.
“Every worker deserves safe and healthy working conditions, and bad actors who put hardworking men and women in harm’s way must be held accountable. That’s why Republicans have consistently called on OSHA to improve its enforcement efforts and collaborate with employers to address gaps in safety,” Rep Byrne said.
“Unfortunately, the Obama administration consistently doubled down on failed, punitive policies that do more to tie small businesses in red tape than protect workers,” he added. “With this rule, OSHA rewrote federal law while doing nothing to improve worker health and safety. Congress must reject this unlawful power grab and encourage the agency to adopt the responsible, proactive safety approach that America’s workers deserve.”
