Following up on our May guest column by U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) on workplace safety, we asked the congressman, a labor law attorney in private life, about a range of issues affecting employers, from OSHA policies to the “joint employer” rule and more. We also asked how much the congressman thinks lawmakers can accomplish in today’s partisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill. Highlights of our discussion follow.

In May’s column, Rep. Byrne had cited a committee witness who said that the administration of President Barack Obama had unleashed a “regulatory tsunami” on business. One example of that urge to regulate ...