BILL NUMBER: SB 486	CHAPTERED  10/13/01

	CHAPTER  856
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 13, 2001
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 12, 2001
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 13, 2001
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 10, 2001
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 18, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 1, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 28, 2001

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Speier

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2001

   An act to add Part 11 (commencing with Section 9100) to Division 5
of the Labor Code, relating to public safety.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 486, Speier.  Public safety:  working warehouses.
   Existing law prescribes safety standards for various industries.
   This bill would require an owner, manager, or operator of a
working warehouse, as defined, to secure merchandise stored on
shelves higher than 12 feet above the sales floor, as defined, by
installing safety devices such as rails, fencing, netting, security
doors, gates, cables, or binding materials.  The bill would require
that a safety zone that blocks customers from entering areas where
merchandise could fall be temporarily established when heavy
machinery is used to remove items from a shelf.  The bill would
require all working warehouses to comply with these provisions by no
later than July 1, 2002.
   Under the bill, an owner, manager, or operator of a working
warehouse who employs more than 50 employees would be required,
within 30 days of December 31, 2002, and within 30 days of December
31, 2003, to submit to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
a report of all known injuries requiring hospitalization, including
emergency room medical treatment, or deaths occurring to customers as
a result of falling merchandise.  The bill would permit a
corporation owning, managing, or operating more than one working
warehouse to submit a single report on behalf of all of the
corporation's working warehouses each year, provided that the
location of the warehouse where each reportable incident occurred is
included in the report.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Part 11 (commencing with Section 9100) is added to
Division 5 of the Labor Code, to read:

      PART 11.  COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
      CHAPTER 1.  WORKING WAREHOUSES

   9100.  For purposes of this chapter, "sales floor" means any area
where the public is invited to shop, whether indoors or outdoors.
   9101.  For purposes of this chapter, "working warehouse" means a
wholesale or retail establishment in which both of the following
occur:
   (a) Heavy machinery, including, but not limited to, forklifts, is
used in any area where the public shops while customers are on the
premises.
   (b) Merchandise is stored on shelves higher than 12 feet above the
sales floor.
   9102.  (a) The owner, manager, or operator of a working warehouse
shall secure merchandise stored on shelves higher than 12 feet above
the sales floor.  Methods of securing merchandise shall include
rails, fencing, netting, security doors, gates, cables, or the
binding of items on a pallet into one unit by shrink-wrapping, metal
or plastic banding, or by tying items together with a cord.
   (b) All working warehouses shall comply with the provisions of
this section by no later than July 1, 2002.
   9103.  (a) When heavy machinery is used to move merchandise from a
shelf, there shall be a safety zone established to temporarily block
customers from entering areas where merchandise could fall during
removal from a shelf.
   (b) All working warehouses shall comply with the provisions of
this section by no later than July 1, 2002.
   9104.  An owner, manager, or operator of a working warehouse who
employs more than 50 employees shall submit to the division, a report
of all known injuries requiring hospitalization, including emergency
room medical treatment, or deaths occurring to customers as the
result of falling merchandise.  The report shall be filed within 30
days of December 31, 2002, and within 30 days of December 31, 2003.
Each year, a corporation owning, managing, or operating more than one
working warehouse may submit a single report on behalf of all of the
corporation's working warehouses in the state, provided that the
report identifies the location of the warehouse where each reportable
incident occurred.