BILL NUMBER: SB 564 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 115815) to
Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to recreational activities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 564, as amended, Monning. Ski resorts: safety plans: accident
reports.
Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational
activities and public safety, including, among other things,
playgrounds and wooden playground equipment.
This bill would require ski resorts, as defined, to prepare an
annual safety plan , as defined, that includes
the specification and detailed description of any and all of the
resort's safety and accident prevention related management and
operational standards, practices, methods and materials, policies,
and procedures in specified categories, including the category of
natural and manmade hazard warnings, markers, and shielding
, at a minimum, a detailed description of any and
only those policies, procedures, standards, methods, and materials
consistently employed to reduce patron deaths and injuries on the
resort, as provided, among other things . The bill would
require the safety plan to be posted on the ski resorts Internet Web
site, if any, and at a location in the ski resort. The bill would
require the ski resort to create monthly and annual reports that
include information , of all known deaths and
injuries of patrons of the resort , as provided . The bill
would require the ski resort to make copies of the safety plan and
reports available upon request. The bill would protect the
documentation and testimony used to prepare the reports from all
civil discovery, subpoena, or other demand relating to civil
procedure. The bill would authorize a requesting
individual to initiate a civil cause of action to compel the
production of the safety p lan or reports if a resort
fails to make them available upon request.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3 (commencing with Section 115815) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
Article 3. Ski Resorts
115815. For the purposes of this article, the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) "Safety plan" or "plan" refers to a document describing a plan
or program to prevent accidents and reduce the number of deaths as
well as the frequency and severity of injuries that generally
conforms to the structure and content of model safety plans and
programs recommended by property and casualty insurance companies in
the United States.
(b) "Season" refers to the entire period of snow sport operations
from a resort's opening in the fall or early winter of one calendar
year to its closure in the spring or early summer of the subsequent
calendar year.
(a)
(c) "Ski resort" or "resort" means any ski and other
snow sport facility or resort that operates in California.
(b)
(d) "Skier day" refers to a ski industry term used to
denote utilization of a snow sport resort by a guest who skis or
engages in other snow sports during a single calendar day of resort
operations. The number of skier days are used to track utilization as
well as to normalize other patron volume related statistics over a
defined period of resort operations.
(c) "Signage key" means a summary, written or graphic, or both,
document that describes the intended meaning or instruction of
specific signage shapes, colors, symbols, and language.
(e) "Terrain park" refers to a designated area within a resort
specifically groomed for jumping and other acrobatics.
115816. A ski resort shall prepare an annual safety plan
that conforms with the requirements of federal regulations
applicable to ski resorts operating on federal property. In addition
to meeting federal requirements, the plan shall include the
specification and detailed description of any and all of the resort's
safety and accident prevention related management and operational
standards, practices, methods and materials, policies, and procedures
in, at a minimum the following categories:
(a) Signage and signage key design, content, and placement.
(b) Padding, fencing, and other impact protection.
(c) Trail intersection design and management, speed and congestion
controls, and other collision prevention safeguards.
(d) Natural and manmade hazard warnings, markers, and shielding.
(e) Lift chair design and operation.
(f) Boundary markings, barriers, and exit management.
(g) Terrain park design and operation.
(h) Reckless behavior management.
(i) Accident reporting, tracking, and analysis.
(j) Mountain personnel qualifications, staffing, and management.
(k) Officer or manager, or both, assignments and accountability
for safety and accident prevention.
(l) Avalanche prevention and management.
(m) Rescue procedures and performance management.
(n) Alcohol availability and use limitations.
(o) Patron and staff helmet use.
(p) Partial and complete closure policies, criteria, and
procedures.
(q) Child accompaniment and supervision requirements.
(r) Rental equipment quality standards and maintenance.
(s) Mountain
medical facility, if any, staffing, quality of care, oversight, and
certification. plan. The safety plan shall,
at a minimum, include the following:
(a) A detailed description of any and only those policies,
procedures, practices, standards, methods, and materials consistently
employed to reduce patron deaths and injuries on the resort lifts,
slopes, trails, and terrain parks.
(b) A detailed explanation of all criteria used for designating
terrain or trail difficulty.
115817. (a) The ski resort shall post its annual safety plan on
its Internet Web site, if one is maintained, and at a location in the
ski resort where it can be viewed by the public.
(b) The ski resort shall make copies of its annual safety plan
immediately available in a prompt and timely
manner to any person who requests it at the ski resort during
its regular hours of operation, and , if the resort does not
have an Internet Web site, mail or e-mail copies of the plan
within three business days of a request by phone
telephone , Internet, or mail. The resort may charge for
any postage and a per-page copying fee, not to exceed the usual and
customary charge of public libraries in the area of the resort.
115818. (a) (1) By the 15th calendar day after the end of each
full or partial calendar month of operation, the ski resort shall
create a report of all known deaths and injuries of patrons of the
resort that occur either on site or off site if the off site injury
or death involved voluntarily or involuntarily egress out of the
resort boundaries. The report shall not include a victims identity.
The report shall include all the following information for each death
or injury if available:
(A) Age and sex of the victim.
(B) Type of recreational activity and equipment.
(C) Date, time, and location.
(D) Ambient and surface conditions.
(E) Apparent mechanism of injury.
(F) Apparent location of injuries.
(G) Apparent nature of injuries.
(H) Consciousness and alertness of the victim.
(I) Injury severity score.
(J) Mode of transportation used to move the person from the
resort.
(2) The monthly report shall include the number of skier days for
the month.
(b) Within 60 calendar days of the end of its operation for a
season, the resort shall prepare a summary annual report that, at a
minimum, includes for the most recent past season a summary of all of
the following:
(1) The total number of deaths and injuries, as described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), that occurred.
(2) The total number of ambulance, ground, and air transports from
the resort.
(3) The total number of skier days for the season.
(c) The ski resort shall make copies of the monthly and annual
reports immediately available to any person who requests them at the
ski resort during its regular hours of operation and mail or e-mail
copies of the reports within three business days of a request by
phone, Internet, or mail. The resort may charge for any postage and a
per-page copying fee, not to exceed the usual and customary charge
of public libraries in the area of the resort.
115819. Any documentation or testimony used by the ski resort to
create the reports prepared pursuant to Section 115818 shall be
protected from all civil discovery, subpoena, or other demand
relating to civil procedure.
115820. This article does not change existing state, local, and
case law with respect to the application of the assumption of risk
doctrine to participants in recreational activities at ski resorts in
the state.
115818. (a) (1) By the 15th calendar day after the end of each
full or partial calendar month of snow sport operations, the resort
shall create a summary monthly report of the number of all deaths
that occur onsite, or subsequent to an accident that occurred onsite
or after voluntary or unintended egress from the resort boundaries,
and all injuries to any person that occurred onsite about which the
resort is aware, unless the injury does not require medical service
other than ordinary first aid onsite. The summary report shall
specify the number of injured patrons using air or ground ambulance
transportation from the resort to a medical facility. The summary
report shall include, individual incident reports of deaths and
injuries, including all the accident and injury-related information
collected by the resort, with the identity of the victim redacted.
(2) The summary monthly report shall also include the number of
skier days for the month, the number of days of operation, and the
approximate relative percentage of open slopes and trails by the
terrain difficulty designations used by the resort as well as the
criteria for those designations.
(b) Within 60 calendar days of the end of the calendar year or of
its operation for a season, whichever day is later, the resort shall
annually prepare a summary seasonal report consolidating and
including all of the information from the reports required pursuant
to subdivision (a).
(c) (1) The resort shall make copies of the reports required
pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) available in a prompt and timely
manner to any person who requests them at the resort during its
regular hours of operation and mail or e-mail copies of the reports
within three business days of a request by telephone, Internet, or
mail. The resort may charge for any postage and a per page copying
fee not to exceed the usual and customary charge of public libraries
in the area of the resort.
(2) This subdivision does not require a resort to publicly post
the reports required pursuant to subdivisions (a) or (b) on its
Internet Web site or anywhere on its premise.
115819. If a resort fails to comply with a request made pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 115817 or subdivision (c) of Section
115818, the requesting individual may use that failure as the basis
to initiate a civil cause of action to compel the production of the
requested information. If the individual prevails in a civil action
to compel the production of these reports or documents, the resort
shall pay the cost of the individual's attorney's fees and court
costs.
115820. This article does not change the existing assumption of
risk doctrine as it applies to ski resorts.