Four bills passed in the House last month aim to correct a perceived unfairness in the way the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) deals with small businesses. The biggest complaint of small businesses is that they lack the time and money to fight OSHA citations. The new bills would give employers more time to fight citations, make it easier to recover legal costs from the agency, and give a separate agency the final word in how a standard is applied.
See "Small-Business Owners Say They're Up to OSHA's Challenge", Cindy Skrzycki, The Washington Post, May 31, 2004