Press Releases

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) today introduced a bill aimed at protecting small businesses from potential misinformation provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The OSHA Employer Notification Act would require OSHA to notify a business of an alleged violation 24 hours prior to making a public statement regarding the violation. Additionally, this bill will require OSHA to update public postings on their website if the citation is subsequently reduced or dropped altogether.

“Under current law, OSHA can notify the press of alleged violations made by businesses before the actual business, which can result in, among other things, delayed resolution of the problem.”

“This issue was brought to my attention by a business in my district that learned from the local news that they had allegedly violated OSHA standards. When the citation was appealed, OSHA’s final determination revealed that a significant amount of the information they used to base the initial citation was deemed unreliable.”                                                                                                                                

“This practice of ’Regulation by Shaming’ is dangerous because it A) delays action on the problem if there turns out to be one and B) can have a lasting negative effect on a business’s reputation, even if there turns out to be no violation.”

“We need to help businesses by treating them as part of the solution, not the problem, which is what the OSHA Employer Notification Act will do.”

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman is serving his second term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.