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Grassley blasts OSHA’s ‘idiotic approach to regulation’

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is one of the 43 U.S. Senators who have sent a letter to the U.S. Labor Secretary accusing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of overstepping its authority in attempting to regulate small, family-run farms.

The senators’ letter was in response to reports that OSHA recently assessed a 132-thousand dollar fine against a Nebraska farm—a farm with only one non-family employee—for grain bin safety violations.  Since 1976, Congress has included language in appropriations bills prohibiting OSHA enforcement actions against farmers with ten or fewer employees.  However, according to the senators, OSHA is circumventing the law by redefining small farms as commercial grain handlers.

Grassley says OSHA’s claim that grain handling and storage are not part of a farming operation “doesn’t meet the test of common sense”.

AUDIO: Chuck Grassley (1:19 MP3)