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 infor

mation 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;

75-623 74 pt. 3-2

(5) by providing for research in the field of occupational safety and health, including the psychological factors involved, and by developing innovative methods, techniques, and approaches for dealing with occupational safety and health problems;

(6) by exploring ways to discover latent diseases, establishing casual connections between diseases and work in environinental conditions, and conducting other research relating to health problems, in recognition of the fact that occupational health standards present problems often different from those involved in occupational safety;

(7) by providing medical criteria which will assure insofar as practicable that no employee will suffer diminished health, functional capacity, or life expectancy as a result of his work experience;

(8) by providing for training programs to increase the number and competence of personnel engaged in the field of occupational safety and health;

(9) by providing for the development and promulgation of occupational safety and health standards;

(10) by providing an effective enforcement program which shall include a prohibition against giving advance notice of any inspection and sanctions for any individual violating this prohibition;

(11) by encouraging the States to assume the fullest responsibility for the administration and enforcement of their occupational safety and health laws by providing grants to the States to assist in identifying their needs and responsibilities in the area of occupational safety and health, to develop plans in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, to improve the administration and enforcement of State occupational safety and health laws, and to conduct experimental and demonstration projects in connection therewith;

(12) by providing for appropriate reporting procedures with respect to occupational safety and health which procedures will help achieve the objectives of this chapter and accurately describe the nature of the occupational safety and health problem;

(13) by encouraging joint labor-management efforts to reduce injuries and disease arising out of employment.

(Pub. L. 91-596, § 2, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1590)

§ 652. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter

(1) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor. (2) The term "Commission" means the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission established under this chapter. (3) The term "commerce" means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between a State and any place outside thereof, or within the District of Columbia, or a possession of the United States (other than the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands), or between points in the same State but through a point outside thereof.

(4) The term "person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, business trusts, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons.

(5) The term "employer" means a person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include the United States or any State or political subdivision of a State.

(6) The term "employee" means an employee of an employer who is employed in a business of his employer which affects

commerce.

(7) The term "State" includes a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(8) The term "occupational safety and health standard" means a standard which requires conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes, reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.

(9) The term "national consensus standard" means any occupational safety and health standard or modification thereof which (1) has been adopted and promulgated by a nationally recognized standards-producing organization under procedures whereby it can be determined by the Secretary that persons interested and affected by the scope or provisions of the standard have reached substantial agreement on its adoption, (2) was formulated in a manner which afforded an opportunity for diverse views to be considered and (3) has been designated as such a standard by the Secretary, after consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies.

(10) The term "established Federal standard" means any operative occupational safety and health standard established by any agency of the United States and presently in effect, or contained in any Act of Congress in force on December 29, 1970.

(11) The term "Committee" means the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health established under this chapter.

(12) The term "Director" means the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

(13) The term "Institute" means the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established under this chapter. (14) The term "Workmen's Compensation Commission" means the National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws established under this chapter.

(Pub. L. 91-596, § 3, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1591.)

§ 653. Geographic applicability; judicial enforcement; applicability to existing standards; report to Congress on duplication and coordination of Federal laws; workmen's compensation law or common law or statutory rights, duties, or liabilities of employers and employees unaffected.

(a) This chapter shall apply with respect to employment performed in a workplace in a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Wake Island, Outer Continental Shelf lands defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Johnston Island, and the Canal Zone. The Secretary of the Interior shall, by regulation, provide for judicial enforcement of this