Charles Norwood: “it is interesting that today we heard some very important testimony on workplace safety during a hearing we had in the…”

“it is interesting that today we heard some very important testimony on workplace safety during a hearing we had in the Subcommittee on Workplace Protections. We wanted to hear from safety advocates in the small business community on how well voluntary employer compliance programs are working to improve workplace safety while at the same time protecting jobs and small businesses from unnecessary red tape and lawsuits. I have heard employers say many times, and know from my own firsthand knowledge, that OSHA regulations are simply too complex and too difficult to understand. It is a red-tape nightmare, Mr. Speaker. That is a good description for the piles of OSHA rules, regulations, guidance documents, and interpretive letters that employers must dig through to try to determine the right thing to do in the business place to come into compliance. Mr. Speaker, I do not think they ought to be spending their time bringing their workplace into compliance with OSHA red tape. They ought to, instead, be spending their time making their workplace safer. Small businesses want to comply with our Nation's health and safety laws for many reasons, one of which is it simply pays for them to do so.…”