The Brick Industry Association (BIA) recently expressed its support for H.R. 1583, a bill introduced by Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA) titled "OSHA Fairness." The bill seeks to improve the ways in which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) executes its enforcement actions, including empowering OSHA with the authority to extend time limits for an employer to respond to a citation, defining the term "willful" violation, bolstering the role played by the Review Commission in interpreting the law, and enabling small employers to more readily recover attorneys' fees. In a letter to Norwood, who serves as the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Dick Jennison, BIA president and CEO, applauded the bill's aims. "The Brick Industry Association enthusiastically applauds Mr. Norwood's insightful effort to enhance the degree to which OSHA can aid companies in protecting worker health and safety," said Jennison. "Just as BIA member companies go to great lengths to protect their workers' safety and health, we are mindful of OSHA's need to establish a common-sense basis for compliance and enforcement actions. In this way, brick manufacturers can more efficiently plan for and, ultimately, devote more resources to employees' health and safety in our plants."

The BIA's website is located at http://www.gobrick.com .