mulgated under the Act, if such State submits an approved plan for so doing to the Secretary of Labor. The Secretary shall approve such a plan under the following conditions:

1. An agency, or agencies, of the State must be designated or created to carry out the plan.

2. The State standards (and enforcement thereof) must be at least as effective as the counterpart Federal standards in providing safe and healthful employment.

3. There must be effective provisions for rights of entry and inspection of workplaces, including a prohibition on advance notice of inspections.

4. Enforcement capacity must be demonstrated.

5. Adequate funds for administration and enforcement must be assured.

6. Effective and comprehensive job safety and health programs for all public employees within the State will be established to the extent permitted by the particular State's law.

7. The State, and employers within the State, will make such reports as may be required by the Secretary of Labor.

Following approval of a State plan for the development and enforcement of State standards, the Secretary of Labor may continue to exercise his enforcement authority with respect to comparable Federal occupational safety and health standards until he determines on the basis of actual operations that the criteria set forth above are being applied. Once he makes such determination (but he cannot do so during the first 3 years after the plan's approval), the Federal standards and the Secretary's enforcement of them become inapplicable with respect to issues covered under the plan.

The Secretary is required to make a continuing evaluation of the manner in which each State plan is being carried out and to withdraw his approval whenever there is a failure to comply substantially with any provision thereof. Such a plan shall cease to be in effect upon receipt of notice by the State of the Secretary's withdrawal of approval. The Secretary of Labor is authorized, after consultation with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, to make grants to States for experimental and demonstration projects consistent with the objectives of the Act, for administering and enforcing approved programs, for assisting them in identifying their needs, or in developing their plans, in establishing systems for collection of information concerning the nature and frequency of occupational injuries and diseases, for developing and administering programs dealing with occupational safety and health statistics, and for improving the expertise of personnel or the administration and enforcement of State occupational safety and health laws consistent with the objectives of the Act.

If the Secretary of Labor rejects a State plan for development and enforcement of State standards, he shall afford the State submitting the plan due notice and opportunity for hearing before so doing. The subsequent withdrawal of an approved State plan or the rejection of a State's plan is subject to review in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS

The Act provides for programs to be conducted by the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Department of Health, Education, and

Welfare, for the education and training of employers and employees in the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions, and in the effective means for preventing occupational injuries and illnesses. The Act also makes provision for educational and training programs to provide an adequate supply of qualified personnel to carry out the law's purposes and for informational programs on the importance of and proper use of adequate safety and health equipment to be conducted primarily by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, but also to some extent by the Secretary of Labor.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

The Act establishes within HEW a National Institute For Occupational Safety and Health primarily for the purpose of carrying out the research and educational functions assigned to the HEW Secretary. In addition to these functions, the Institute is authorized to develop and establish recommended occupational safety and health standards; to conduct research and experimental programs for developing criteria for new and improved job safety and health standards; and to make recommendations to the Secretaries of Labor and HEW concerning new and improved standards.

Among the HEW functions which may be carried out by the Institute is the one which calls for prescribing regulations requiring employers to measure, record, and make reports on the exposure of employees to potentially toxic substances or harmful physical agents which might endanger their safety and health. Employers required to do so may receive full financial or other assistance for the purpose of defraying any additional expense incurred. Also authorized are programs for medical examinations and tests as may be necessary to determine, for the purposes of research, the incidence of occupational illness and the susceptibility of employees to such illnesses. These examinations may also be at Government expense. The Secretary of HEW is required to publish annually a list of all known toxic substances and the concentrations at which toxicity is known to occur, and, at the written request of any employer or authorized representatives of employees, to make determinations whether any substance normally found in the place of employment has potentially toxic effects. Such determinations shall be submitted to both the employer and the affected employees as soon as possible. The HEW Secretary is also required to conduct and publish industry-wide studies on chronic or low-level exposure to a broad variety of industrial materials, processes, and stresses on the potential for illness, disease, or loss of functional capacity in aging adults.

Information obtained by the Department of HEW and of Labor under the research provisions of the Act is to be disseminated to employers and employees and organizations thereof.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION

The Act does not in any manner affect any workmen's compensation law or enlarge or diminish or affect in any other manner the common

law or statutory rights, duties, or liabilities of employers and employees under any law with respect to injuries, diseases, or death of employees arising out of, or in the course of, employment. Provision is made in the law, however, for a 15-member National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws to evaluate State workmen's compensation laws in order to determine if such laws provide an adequate, prompt, and equitable system of compensation for the injury or death arising out of or in the course of employment.

ASSISTANCE FROM SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

The law includes amendments to the Small Business Act which provides for financial assistance to small firms for alterations in its equipment, facilities, or methods of operation to comply with standards established by the Department of Labor or by any State pursuant to the Act if the Small Business Administration determines that such a firm is likely to suffer substantial economic injury without such assistance.

Advisory committees

OTHER PROVISIONS

The Act creates a 12-member National Advisory Committee to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor (including 4 designees of the Secretary of HEW) to advise, consult, and make recommendations on matters relating to the administration of the Act, and permits the establishment of ad hoc advisory committees to assist the Secretary of Labor in his standard-setting functions.

Nonobstruction requirement

Any information obtained by any agency under the Act shall be obtained with a minimum burden upon employers, especially those operating small businesses. Unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining information shall be reduced to the maximum extent feasible. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

The Act establishes a new independent Federal agency, called the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This Commission is a quasi-judicial body whose functions are: (1) to hear and review cases of alleged violations brought before it by the Secretary of Labor; and, where warranted, (2) to issue corrective orders, and (3) to assess civil penalties. The Commission is composed of three members, appointed by the President (with approval of the Senate) to serve 6-year staggered terms, and chosen from among persons who are qualified by reason of training, education, or experience to perform their duties. One of the members shall be appointed by the President to serve as Chairman.

Labor Department legal representation

The Solicitor of Labor is authorized to appear for and represent the Secretary in any civil litigation brought under the Act subject to the direction and control of the Attorney General.

Trade secrets

Any trade secrets revealed to Labor Department personnel during

the course of their duties under the Act shall be considered confidential for the purpose of 18 U.S.C. 1905.

National defense tolerances

The Secretary of Labor may allow reasonable variations, tolerances, and exemptions from any and all of the Act's provisions, if he finds these necessary to avoid serious impairment of the national defense. Federal protection for Labor Department inspectors

The Act broadens the provisions of Title 18 of the United States Code, which makes it a Federal criminal offense to assault, kill, or otherwise interfere with certain law enforcement officials in the course of their assignments, by extending this protection to all employees of the Department of Labor assigned to perform investigative, inspection, or law enforcement functions.

Annual reports

Comprehensive annual reports on the Act must be prepared and submitted to the President for transmittal to the Congress by both the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Reports are also required from the Secretary of Labor on the grants program, from the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on the operations of that Institute, and from the Secretary of Labor on occupational safety and health programs for Federal employees.

New Assistant Secretary of Labor

The law adds an additional Assistant Secretary in the Department. of Labor, an Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, who heads the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration within the Department. This Administration, established by Secretary's Order 12-71, effective April 28, 1971, has broad responsibilities to insure that employees have safe and healthful working conditions. In addition to administering the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Administration also carries out the Department's safety and health functions under the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936, as amended; the Service Contract Act of 1965; the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act; the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act; the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965; Executive Order No. 11612, signed July 26, 1971 (July 28, 1971, 36 F.R. 13891), relating to occupational safety and health programs for Federal employees; and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act.

ADDENDUM

Prior to establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department's safety and health functions had been performed by the Bureau of Labor Standards. With creation of the new Administration, that Bureau was dissolved and its programs divided between two administrations within the Department. Safety and health functions were assimilated into the new Administration,

This section provides that any employee of any department or agency of the Federal Government who reveals any confidential information coming to him in the course of any examination or investigation, made or filed with such department or agency, which relates to trade secrets shall be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned for not more than 1 year or both, and removed from employment.

except those responsibilities related to child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which remained within the Employment Standards Administration. Other programs of the Bureau, relating to technical assistance and information on subject matters other than safety, were absorbed into the Employment Standards Administration through continuance of two divisions.

The Division of Employment Standards and the Division of Workmen's Compensation help to improve employment standards for all workers through better legislation, administration, and practices. Upon request, technical advisory assistance and consultation are furnished to State labor agencies, unions, management, and others in the development and administration of improved standards. The divisions serve as a clearinghouse on State law and practice-the Division of Workmen's Compensation on the subject of workmen's compensation, and the Division of Employment Standards on such subjects as minimum wage, hours of work and overtime pay, wage garnishment, industrial relations, child labor, status of agricultural workers, employment discrimination, regulation of private employment agencies, and other matters affecting employment conditions. Better understanding of the need for and purposes of effective standards is promoted through issuance of publications and the provision of technical information services.

Text of Act

(Section Nos. Refer to U.S. Code)

§ 651. Congressional statement of findings and declaration of purpose and policy.

The Congress finds that personal injuries and illnesses arising out of work situations impose a substantial burden upon, and are a hindrance to, interstate commerce in terms of lost production, wage loss, medical expenses, and disability compensation payments.

The Congress declares it to be its purpose and policy, through the exercise of its powers to regulate commerce among the several States and with foreign nations and to provide for the general welfare, to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human

resources

(1) by encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number of occupational safety and health hazards at their places of employment, and to stimulate employers and employees to institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions;

(2) by providing that employers and employees have separate but dependent responsibilities and rights with respect to achieving safe and healthful working conditions;

(3) by authorizing the Secretary of Labor to set mandatory occupational safety and health standards applicable to businesses affecting interstate commerce, and by creating an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission for carrying out adjudicatory functions under this chapter;

(4) by building upon advances already made through employer and employee initiative for providing safe and healthful working conditions;

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