BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1100 Hearing Date: April 6,
2016
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|Author: |Monning |
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|Version: |February 17, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Brandon Seto |
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Subject: Worker occupational safety and health training and
education program
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature rename the Workers' Occupational Safety
and Health Education Fund?
Should the Legislature require the Department of Public Health
and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to create and
oversee an occupational research agenda and health program to
augment existing injury and illness prevention programs?
ANALYSIS
Existing law
Maintains a Workers' Occupational Safety and Health
Education Fund as a special account in the State Treasury.
The proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, by the Commission on
Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (Commission)
for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education
SB 1100 (Monning) Page 2
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program (Labor Code §6354.7).
Mandates that the Commission establish and maintain a
worker safety and health training and education program to
promote awareness of the need for prevention education
programs, to develop and provide injury and illness
prevention education programs for employees and their
representatives, and to deliver those awareness and
training programs through a network of providers throughout
the state. The commission may conduct the program directly
or by means of contracts or interagency agreements (Labor
Code §6354.7).
Requires the Director of the Department of Industrial
Relations to levy and collect fees from workers'
compensation insurers to fund these purposes (Labor Code
§6354.7).
Instructs the Department of Industrial Relations to
develop a long range program for upgrading and expanding
the State's resources in the area of occupational health
and medicine. This includes a contractual agreement with
the University of California to create occupational health
centers affiliated with regional schools of medicine and
public health. The centers serve as referral centers for
occupational illnesses and engage in research on the
causes, diagnosis, and prevention of occupational illnesses
(Labor Code §50.8).
Requires the centers to inform the Division of
Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the
Department of Industrial Relations, State Department of
Health Services, and the Department of Food and Agriculture
of their clinical and research findings (Labor Code §50.8).
This Bill
Enacts the "The Dr. Julia Quint Program for Research,
Prevention, and Treatment of Occupational Injuries and
Illnesses."
Renames the Workers' Occupational Safety and Health
Education Fund as the "Workers' Occupational Safety and
Health Injury and Illness Prevention Through Education,
SB 1100 (Monning) Page 3
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Research, and Treatment Fund."
Directs the Commission to establish and maintain a
worker occupational safety and health training and
education program, to be referred to as the "Worker
Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education
Program", or "WOSHTEP" whose administrative costs will be
paid for out of this fund.
Expands the purpose of the fund by requiring the
Occupational Health Branch of the State Department of
Public Health by interagency agreement with the Division of
Occupational Safety and Health to provide administrative
and programmatic oversight for the establishment,
implementation, and evaluation of a California occupational
research agenda and a community occupational health
program.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
In 1978, Central Valley workers were sterilized after they
manufactured a pesticide containing dibromochloropropane.
Subsequently, the Legislature created a long-term program to
upgrade and expand occupational health resources through
university-based training and research (Labor Code §50.8).
Then in 2002, the Legislature established the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund (Labor Code
§6354.7) in order to create an occupational safety and health
training and education program. While these efforts are
commendable, the author believes that occupational injury and
illness continue to take a significant toll in California,
both in terms of health impact and costs.
Because of this, the author would like to do more to improve
occupational health and safety. Currently, the Commission on
Health Safety and Workers' Compensation allocates funds to the
University of California Berkeley Labor Occupational Health
Program and the University California Los Angeles Labor
Occupational Safety & Health Program to carry out the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program.
The main purpose of the program is to train workers and their
representatives regarding occupational health and safety.
SB 1100 (Monning) Page 4
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Along with these approaches, the author seeks to expand the
existing worker occupational safety and health training and
education program framework to address additional occupational
health and safety issues. This would include the development
of a California occupational research agenda and a community
occupational health program.
The California occupational research agenda would focus on
identifying and promoting effective ways to prevent workplace
hazards, with the intent to reduce the high cost for
California workers and businesses of work-related injuries,
illnesses and death. Additionally, the occupational health
program would link community-based health care programs to
occupational health experts who would provide pertinent data
and research to treat injured workers seen in those programs
and to prevent similar injuries.
2. Proponent Arguments :
Proponents believe that SB 1100 increases protections for
workers and workplaces by expanding the Worker Occupational
Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP). In
2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that nearly half a
million California workers had Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) recordable injuries and illnesses. This
rate of occupational injuries and illnesses exceeded the
national average and resulted in over 586,000 workers'
compensation claims in 2014 alone.
Proponents contend that the establishment of a California
occupational research agenda (CORA) is critical to fostering
long-standing California research efforts to identify and
promote effective ways to prevent workplace hazards, thus
reducing the high cost of work-related injuries, illnesses,
and death for California's workers and businesses. SB 1100
will ensure that occupational research continues to find
cost-effective solutions and while fostering new partnerships
with worker representatives, employers, and insurance
companies to improve workplace safety and health.
In addition, proponents argue that California needs an
increased capacity for " research to practice (R2P)"
activities as an integral part of CORA, to ensure that new
research findings are communicated to affected industries and
SB 1100 (Monning) Page 5
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translated into positive workplace changes. The partnership
between the California Department of Public Health and
Department of Industrial Relations will be critical in the
implementation of a broad and visionary occupational health
research agenda.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None received.
4. Double Referral:
This bill has been double referred and, if approved by this
committee, it will be sent to the Senate Health Committee for
a hearing.
5. Prior Legislation :
AB 749 (Calderon), Chapter 6, Statutes of 2002 - created the
Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund to,
among other things, establish and maintain a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program.
Its goals included promoting awareness of the need for injury
and illness prevention education programs, developing and
providing these programs for employees and their
representatives, and delivering awareness and training
programs through a network of providers throughout the state.
SUPPORT
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Occupational Research Agenda
Center for Occupational & Environmental Health, University of
California Davis
Consumer Attorneys of California
National Lawyers Guild, Labor & Employment Committee
United Steel Workers, LOCAL 5
University of California San Francisco, Occupational &
Environmental Health Nursing Program
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WORKSAFE
2-individuals
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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