BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1050 (Low) - Occupational safety and health: permanent
variances
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|Version: February 10, 2016 |Policy Vote: JUD. 5 - 1, L. & |
| | I.R. 3 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1050 would (1) require that employers seeking a
permanent variance to an elevator safety order notify specified
affected workers, and (2) grant party status to affected
workers, or their authorized representative, to participate in
variance proceedings.
Fiscal
Impact: The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) indicates
that it would incur first-year costs of $166,000 and ongoing
costs of $160,000 to implement the provisions of the bill
(special fund).
Background: The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards
AB 1050 (Low) Page 1 of
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Board) adopts occupational safety and health standards that are
designed to protect state California workers. However, current
law includes a process whereby an employer may apply for
permission to deviate or not follow an existing standard (also
known as a variance). Variances can be either permanent or
temporary in nature.
An employer may apply to the Standards Board for a permanent
variance from a standard (or portion of one) upon a showing of
an alternative program, method, practice, means, device, or
process which will provide equal or superior safety for
employees. The Standards Board will grant the request if it
determines that the condition or practice proposed to be used by
the employer will provide places of employment which are as safe
and healthful as those which would prevail if he or she complied
with the existing standard. The Standards Board is required to
conduct hearings on requests for permanent variances after
employees or employee representatives are properly notified.
In contrast, temporary variances are short-term in duration.
Temporary variances also have different procedures and standards
that apply. First, applications for temporary variances are
made to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH),
rather than the Standards Board. However, the decision by DOSH
to allow or deny the variance may be appealed to the Standards
Board.
The criteria for the granting of a temporary variance also
differ from those governing permanent variances. A temporary
variance shall be granted only if it has been established that
the employer (1) is unable to comply with a standard by its
effective date because of unavailability of professional or
technical personnel or of materials and equipment needed to come
into compliance with the standard or because necessary
construction or alteration of facilities cannot be completed by
the effective date, (2) is taking all available steps to
safeguard the employees against the hazards covered by the
standard; and (3) has an effective program for coming into
compliance with the standard as quickly as practicable.
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Proposed Law:
This bill would (1) require employers seeking a permanent
variance to a conveyance covered by the elevator safety orders
to notify the union representing elevator workers in the region
where the building is being constructed or modified, and those
workers who will be performing the tasks pursuant to the
proposed variance, or their authorized representative, and (2)
grant these workers, or their authorized representative, party
status upon request to the Standards Board.
Related
Legislation: AB 578 (Low) of 2015, was similar to this bill, but
was broader in scope and included notification requirements for
both permanent and temporary variance requests. The bill was
vetoed by the Governor.
Staff
Comments: As noted above, current law requires the Standards
Board to conduct hearings on requests for variances after
employees or their representatives are properly notified and
given an opportunity to appear. Standards Board regulations
provide that "affected employees" and an authorized employee
representative may elect to participate as parties at any time
before commencement of the variance hearing. "Affected employee"
includes employees of the employer seeking the variance (rather
than those of other employers).
Regarding instances of requests for variances for elevator
construction and other public conveyances, such requests
generally come from the building owner. However, the owner
typically has few affected employees. Instead, employees
performing the labor to repair an elevator would be installing
the public conveyance but would not have been a party to the
variance proceeding.
DIR indicates that the increased workload resulting from the
bill would require additional staff, at a cost of $166,000
initially and $160,000 ongoing.
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