INDUSTRIAL SAFETY

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1969

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION,

WELFARE AND SAFETY OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 a.m., in room 6226, New Senate Office Building, Senator William B. Spong (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Senator Spong.

Also present: John T. McEvoy, staff director; Jack Lewis, counsel; James S. Medill, minority counsel; and Edith B. Moore, assistant chief clerk.

Senator SPONG. The hearings will be in order. I will now place a copy of S. 2820 in the record.

(S. 2820 follows:)

(1)

91ST CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

S. 2820

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 11, 1969

Mr. TYDINGS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia

A BILL

To amend title II of the Act of September 19, 1918, relating

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to industrial safety in the District of Columbia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That title II of the Act of September 19, 1918 (D.C. Code,

4

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secs. 36-431-36-442) is amended as follows:

(1) Section 2 of such title (D.C. Code, sec. 36-432) is

6 amended

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8

9

10

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(A) by striking out in paragraph (a) “industrial employment, place of employment," and inserting in lieu thereof "place of employment", and

(B) by striking out in paragraph (d) "industrial”. (2) Section 3 of such title (D.C. Code, sec. 36-433)

1 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 2 sentence: "To promote the safety of persons employed in 3 buildings or other structures, such rules, regulations, and 4 standards may require, without limitation, changes in the 5 permanent or temporary features of such buildings or other 6 structures.".

7 (3) Section 6 of such title (D.C. Code, sec. 36-436) is 8 amended to read as follows: "The Board may, upon written 9 application of any employer affected by such rule or regula10 tion, permit variations from any provisions thereof if it shall 11 find that the application of such provision would result in 12 unnecessary hardship or practical difficulty, and notwith13 standing such variance that the protection afforded by such 14 rule or regulation will be provided. The Board may grant a 15 hearing open to the public on such application upon request 16 of the applicant or other interested party or parties, or on its 17 own initiative. The Board's decision thereon shall be subject 18 to review by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals upon 19 petition of the applicant or other affected party or parties. 20 The Board shall keep a properly indexed record of all varia21 tions permitted from any rule or regulation which shall be 22 open to public inspection.".

23 (4) Section 12 of such title (D.C'. Code, sec. 36–442) 24 is amended by striking out "more than $300, or by imprison25 ment of not exceeding ninety days. Prosecutions for viola

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1 tions of this title shall be in the name of the District of 2 Columbia on information filed in the police court of the 3 District of Columbia" and inserting in lieu thereof the fol4 lowing: "less than $100 or more than $1,000, or by im5 prisonment of not more than ninety days. No forfeiture of 6 collateral shall be permitted in any case involving a death 7 at a place of employment or the loss of any member of the 8 body, including loss of eyesight, or an injury which prevents 9 an employee from pursuing his employment for a period of 10 at least five days. Prosecutions for violations of this title 11 shall be in the name of the District of Columbia on informa12 tion filed in the District of Columbia Court of General 13 Sessions by an assistant Corporation Counsel assigned to the 14 Board.

15 SEC. 2. Section 11-742 (a) of title 11 of the District 16 of Columbia Code is amended

(9),

(1) by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph

(2) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (10) and inserting in lieu thereof “; and", and

(3) by adding after paragraph (10) the following new paragraph:

"(11) decisions of the Minimum Wage and Indus

trial Safety Board pursuant to section 36-436."

Senator SPONG. Our first witness is Mr. William A. Robinson, assistant corporation counsel.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM A. ROBINSON, ASSISTANT CORPORATION COUNSEL, GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Mr. ROBINSON. We ask that the letter dated December 9, 1969, signed by Mr. Fletcher be made a part of the record.

Senator SPONG. It will be admitted in its entirety. (The letter referred to follows:)

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS,

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

Washington, D.C., December 9, 1969.

Chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia,

U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: The Commissioner of the District of Columbia has for report S. 2820, a bill "To amend title II of the Act of September 19, 1918, relating to industrial safety in the District of Columbia."

Section 1 (1) of S. 2820 amends title II of the Act approved September 19, 1918, as amended (40 Stat. 960; D.C. Code, secs. 36-431 through 36-442), by eliminating from the definitions set out in paragraphs (a) and (d) of section 2 of such title 11 all references to the term "industrial." This amendment has the effect of extending coverage of the protective features of the industrial safety law to virtually every place of employment in the District of Columbia with the exception of the premises of any Federal or District of Columbia establishment.

Section 1 (2) of the bill amends section 3 of title II to authorize the application of safety standards, rules, and regulations to the permanent or temporary features of buildings and other structures used for employment purposes. Section 1(3) of the bill amends section 6 of such title to effect a more efficient and equitable procedure for the granting by the Industrial Safety Board of variations from safety rules and regulations. Section 1 (4) amends section 12 of title II to provide increased penalties for violations of the title and of the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. This amendment further provides for the prosecution of violations of title II by an Assistant Corporation Counsel assigned to the Minimum Wage and Industrial Safety Board.

Section 2 of S. 2820 amends section 11-742(a) of the D. C. Code to give exclusive jurisdiction to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to review decisions of the Minimum Wage and Industrial Safety Board with respect to variations from safety rules and regulations.

The Commissioner of the District of Columbia feels strongly that the protection afforded workers of the District of Columbia by title II of the Minimum Wage and Industrial Safety Act should be broadened to include other employees whose working conditions may be such as to be hazardous to them. Further, the Commissioner is of the view that District of Columbia law in this regard should be at least equal to the industrial safety legislation that is in effect in the more progressive States and municipalities of the United States. Accordingly, the Commissioner favors, in principle, legislation which amends existing District law relating to the safety of employees so as to extend it to places of employment other than places of industrial employment.

The Commissioner believes, however, that S. 2820 can be improved by the deletion of certain of its provisions, and that it should be amended in other respects to reflect changes made necessary by the reorganized form of the Government of the District of Columbia pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 and by the enactment of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act (82 Stat. 1203; D.C. Code, secs. 1-1501 et seq.).

Accordingly, the Commissioner recommends that section 1 (3) of the bill be amended to read as follows:

"(3) Section 6 of such title (D. C. Code, sec. 36-436) is amended to read as follows:

"The Commissioner may, upon written application of any employer affected by a rule or regulation, permit variations from any provisions thereof if he 392-50-70-2