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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 12, 2023 04:19 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Eric R. Nelson and Rep. Kyle J. Mullins |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Public Sector Safety Data |
| Please join us as we introduce legislation that takes a critical step toward a better understanding of how public sector employees are injured or killed on the job when workplace accidents occur. It is wrong that thirty seven percent (37%) of Pennsylvania’s government worker fatalities are listed as “No Known Cause.” Our bipartisan legislation will enable the Commonwealth to collect, compare, and analyze worker injury and illness data in the public sector. This is not a proposal to bring public employees under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provisions; such is a policy consideration that requires reliable workplace data. Rather, we are creating an annual reporting process for government employee injuries, illnesses and fatalities using the long-standing “OSHA 300 Injury and Illness” form. Private sector employers subject to federal OSHA requirements must currently record workplace injuries and report them to OSHA (using the OSHA 300 and related forms). Last session, the House Labor & Industry sub-committee held multiple hearings in an attempt to determine if public sector employees are injured more severely, or at greater rates, than their general industry counterparts. We learned the comparison cannot be made, and more than one out of five of all worker fatalities in the state did not have an identifiable cause. This must change moving forward. We must base workplace safety policy on complete data, but most importantly, our injured or deceased workers and their families deserve the dignity of a documented cause. Unfortunately, an apples-to-apples comparison of public vs private sector safety outcomes is not currently possible, because public sector employers do not have comparable recordkeeping and reporting requirements. With comparable data, state and local agencies, public employees, and the General Assembly will be able to analyze the safety outcomes across similar occupations to identify any specific disparities between the public and private sectors – and discuss appropriate solutions. This bill has been updated based on feedback received during the public hearings last session. It includes a ten-year sunset, addresses required program funding, and (like OSHA recording requirements) contains partial exemptions for less hazardous government entities and those with less than ten employees. We encourage you to join us as a cosponsor in this necessary step toward modernizing public sector worker safety in Pennsylvania and better understanding how public sector employees are killed on the job. |
Introduced as HB959
Memo Updated: April 12, 2023 04:21 PM