BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1100 (Monning) - Worker occupational safety and health
training and education program
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|Version: April 11, 2016 |Policy Vote: L. & I.R. 5 - 0, |
| | HEALTH 9 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 2, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1100 would expand the duties of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program to
include collaboration with (1) the Occupational Health Branch of
the Department of Public Health, and (2) the University of
California occupational health centers, in order to increase
coordination between occupational health centers and clinics.
Fiscal
Impact:
The Department of Public Health (DPH) would incur
unknown, but potentially significant costs (likely in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars) as a result of the bill.
The University of California would incur unknown,
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potentially significant costs to implement its provisions
of the bill.
The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) would incur
increased costs resulting from the additional programs
specified in the bill. The magnitude is unknown, but could
be offset with an increase to an existing assessment (See
Staff Comments).
Background: Current law establishes the Commission on Health and Safety and
Workers' Compensation (CHSWC), The Commission is required to
establish a worker occupational safety and health training and
education program (WOSHTEP). The program is funded by fees on
workers' compensation insurers; the fees are capped at $100 or
0.0286 percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity amounts
for claims for the previous calendar year (Labor Code section
6354.7). CHSWC is required to establish an advisory board for
WOSHTEP to guide the development of curricula, teaching methods,
and specific course material about occupational safety and
health.
Furthermore, current law requires WOSHTEP (1) to include the
development and provision of a core curriculum addressing
competencies for effective participation in workplace injury and
illness prevention programs, and to develop additional training
programs as specified, and (2) operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, and to annually prepare a written report evaluating
the use and impact of programs developed.
Under current law, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)
is required to develop a long range program for expanding the
resources of the State with respect to occupational health and
medicine; this program is required to include a contractual
agreement with the University of California for the creation of
occupational health centers affiliated with regional schools of
medicine serving the northern and southern parts of the state.
The primary function of these occupational health centers is to
be the training of occupational physicians and nurses,
toxicologists, epidemiologists, and industrial hygienists, and
to serve as referral centers for occupational illnesses.
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The Occupational Health Branch of DPH is a non-regulatory
program devoted to improving worker health and safety through
prevention activities. Specifically, the Occupational Health
Branch operates the following programs: the Hazard Evaluation
System and Information Service (HESIS), which evaluates hazards
to provide information and technical assistance on new or
unappreciated hazards; the Occupational Health Surveillance and
Evaluation Program, which conducts research on work-related
illness, injury and death in California to understand the causes
and identify preventive measures; the Occupational Lead
Poisoning Prevention Program; which provides information and
assistance to identify lead hazards and prevent work-related
lead poisoning; and, the California Safe Cosmetics Program, to
collect and provide information on hazardous ingredients in
cosmetic products sold in California.
Proposed Law:
This bill would, among other things, do the following:
Expand the stated purpose of WOSHTEP to include increasing the
number of, and continued capacity of, nonprofit provider
organizations, including labor-management cooperation
committees, joint labor-management apprentice programs, labor
unions, community or faith-based organizations that focus on
vulnerable workers, and state government-supported
postsecondary education institutions.
Require WOSHTEP, in addition to its current duties and
functions, to work in collaboration with the Occupational
Health Branch of DPH to develop and implement a California
occupational research agenda focused on the prevention of
occupational injuries and illnesses that are most prevalent,
serious, and costly for California employers and employees.
Require WOSHTEP to work in collaboration with the University
of California occupational health centers affiliated with
regional schools of medicine to increase coordination and
collaboration, including providing training to community-based
health clinics that serve vulnerable workers, including
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non-English Speakers, working in high-risk occupations.
Require the WOSHTEP advisory board to include employer and
worker representatives and experts in occupational safety and
health.
Related
Legislation: SB 1420 (Mendoza) would require all licensed
caregivers for children to complete a one-time training on
occupational health and safety risks specific to the child care
profession and how to identify and avoid those risks. This bill
also requires State Department of Education (SDE) to develop the
curriculum for the training, in consultation with DPH, and to
contract with a specified entity to provide the training,
provides for compensation for caregivers attending the training.
The bill is set to be heard in this Committee on May 9th, 2016.
Staff
Comments: CHSWC is a joint labor-management body that was
created by the workers' compensation reform legislation of 1993,
charged with examining the health and safety and workers'
compensation systems in California and of the state's activities
to prevent industrial injuries and occupational illnesses. In
2002, additional workers' compensation reform legislation
established WOSHTEP, to be administered by CHSWC, to sponsor
workplace health and safety training programs. WOSHTEP is
operated through interagency agreements with the Labor
Occupational Health Program at the University of California at
Berkeley, serving Northern California, the Western Center for
Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California
at Davis, serving California's Central Valley, and the Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Program at the University of
California, Los Angeles, serving Southern California. According
to CHSWC, WOSHTEP places special emphasis on reaching employers
and workers in industries with significant injuries, illnesses
and workers' compensation cost, and that focus is also on groups
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with special needs, such as those who do not speak English as
their first language, workers with limited literacy, young
workers, and other traditionally underserved industries or
groups of workers.
DIR data indicate that, 2014 reportable injury and illness cases
totaled 460,000, a 13-year low. Of the total amount, 265,000
cases involved lost work-time. However, Latino workers continue
to experience the highest incidence of occupational injuries,
comprising 59 percent of all reported days away from work cases.
In construction, manufacturing, mining and natural resources,
three out of four workers injured on the job are Latino.
Additionally, in private industry, new hires and young workers
have higher rates of injury, where one out of four injured
workers had been on the job for less than a year. Teenagers from
16 to 19 years of age suffered the highest incidence of days
away from work due to injury compared to all other age groups.
DPH's Occupational Health Branch currently has mandates within
the Health and Safety Code (Section 105175) to conduct
occupational health research, including the collection and
analysis of data pertaining to the causes of morbidity and
mortality in the workplace statewide. The Branch has the
authority to conduct workplace investigations in order to assess
hazards, determine disease/injury causation, and. disseminate
prevention recommendations. OHB also recommends when a new or
revised standard is needed to better protect workers, and
provides technical assistance on occupational health to agencies
and others.
Due to the bill's lack of specificity, CDPH estimates
potentially significant, unabsorbable annual costs, several
hundred thousand dollars minimally. DIR also anticipates
increased costs, which could be offset with an increase in the
assessment applied pursuant to Labor Code section 6354.7. This
fee increase, once implemented, could potentially offset some or
all UC's and DPH's costs as well.
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