The NFIB Legal Foundation has filed a brief over whether OSHA can force employers to assume the cost of providing personal protective equipment to employees. Though presented as a safety measure, 90 percent of small businesses already pay for such equipment, so the effect of any rulemaking mandating such an obligation on small businesses would increase administrative and compliance costs as well as disrupt any collective bargaining agreements that had previously been arranged between employer and employees.
Twenty million workers use required PPE on the job, but the cost of providing nine out of 10 of those workers with PPE has already been assumed by the employers. The true effects of a rulemaking will be felt by those 10 percent of businesses who provide PPE through mutually beneficial arrangements with employees by way of collective bargaining agreements and other means that address the individual needs of the business and the particular needs of workers in the industry.
The AFL-CIO is seeking to force OSHA to publish a final rule within 60 days. If this happens, OSHA will likely fail to consider the paperwork and reporting burden its rule will have on small firms.
Status: PENDING. Amicus brief filed March 13, 2007.
