New OSHA Rule Requires Employers to Pay for Safety Gear (11/15/07)

After nine years of lobbying by unions and workers' advocates, the Department of Labor has adopted an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that makes employers responsible for covering the cost of safety gear for their employees.

The rule, which takes effect in six months, was proposed in 1999. But with the Bush Administration in power, it was an uphill fight. In the end, it took a lawsuit to get the rule adopted. In January, the UFCW and the AFL-CIO sued the Department of Labor to force it to adopt the OSHA rule, claiming the Bush Administration's failure to act was endangering workers. OSHA has estimated that the rule will result in at least 21,000 fewer workplace injuries per year, saving over $200 million per year in insurance and medical costs.

"Protecting working people should be the Department of Labor's top priority, and we have been fighting for this for the entire Bush presidency," said RWDSU Health and Safety Director Steve Mooser. "We can't rely on business to provide proper protection to workers on their own, and making sure workers have the right gear is exactly the kind of thing that OSHA was created for."