At a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) spoke about workforce protections.
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00:00Thank you. Next, we go to Mr. Comer from Kentucky.
00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Parson, it's great to see you here today.
00:06I'm glad we have an affiliate from Hinkle Contracting in Kentucky here speaking at our subcommittee hearing.
00:13As you know, in the mountains and farmland of Kentucky, where Hinkle operates,
00:20employers have adapted to muggy summer temperatures.
00:23Kentucky businesses follow federal OSHA standards and are able to meet the needs of their employees as they see fit.
00:30OSHA is set to conduct a public hearing on June 16th to review a proposed federal heat standard.
00:36The proposed changes include the implementation of a mandatory 15-minute rest break every two hours when the heat index is 90 degrees or higher.
00:47Can you provide some context around how this standard would disrupt employers' heat protection plans,
00:52which are working in states like Kentucky?
00:55I appreciate the question. It's a good one and something I've been thinking about a lot in preparation for this testimony.
01:00It sounds easier than it would actually be to implement.
01:05And so if you think about how that would actually apply in a business like Hinkle or like ours,
01:09you're out paving or you're crushing rock in a quarry.
01:13To be able to manage the schedule that way rather than when someone needs a break, they're allowed to take a break.
01:20And so I think we're not little kids, and so we don't necessarily need a rule that says everything we need to do.
01:29We do right by our people. We put safety first, and that's worked great for us. To your point, it's worked well.
01:34I wonder if the bureaucrat that wrote that regulation had ever worked 15 minutes in 90-degree weather doing manual labor.
01:42I don't know.
01:43Yeah. I wouldn't want to bet on that.
01:46During the last administration, we saw one-size-fits-all standards overpower the voices of America's businesses' employees.
01:53That was a huge complaint that I had and many employers had with the Biden administration.
01:58They tried to over-regulate with a one-size-fits-all strategy.
02:02Mr. Parson, what advice would you give the new administration when considering changes to regulations for America's diverse manufacturers?
02:11I think that is the key word, and that's what I was going to use as well, is diverse.
02:14So even in our own industry and infrastructure, we do so many different things.
02:20And if you think about all of manufacturing across the United States, it varies widely.
02:25It's indoors, it's outdoors, it's freight, it's so big that it's impossible to create a standard that applies to all.
02:33And so trying to sort through and figure out something that will work, or empowering management, is what I would say,
02:41to take care of your people and do the right thing, that's going to be more powerful.
02:45And I agree, I would like to say this publicly, I would strongly encourage the Trump Department of Labor to consider states
02:55which have allowed businesses to maintain flexibility in meeting the needs of their employees
02:59when issuing their final heat-centered rule and any other planned action over the next few years.
03:05We, you know, some states have had great success, the employees are happy, you know, they're productive,
03:12getting good results for the taxpayers, in your case, that fund these infrastructure projects.
03:19So hopefully the Trump administration will deviate from the Biden administration's over-regulatory obsession
03:27and one-size-fits-all solution.
03:30So thank you again for being here.
03:32I appreciate Hinkle in Kentucky.