BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 564
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 17, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
SB 564 (Monning) - As Amended: May 15, 2014
SENATE VOTE : Not relevant.
SUBJECT : Ski resorts: accident reports.
SUMMARY : Requires ski resorts to submit monthly accident
reports to the Department of Public Health (DPH), authorizes DPH
to request additional safety-related information, and requires
DPH to post the reports on its Internet Website. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires ski resorts and snow sports facilities, by the 15th
calendar day after the end of each full or partial calendar
month that a facility is used as a snow sport facility, to
submit a report to the Injury Surveillance and Epidemiology
Unit of the Safe and Active Communities Branch within DPH in
an electronic format acceptable to DPH. Allows DPH to request
additional safety-related information as it deems necessary
and is available to the resort.
2)Requires the reports to contain all of the following
information:
a) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the
reporting period that occurred on its lifts, slopes, or
trails;
b) The number of accidents that resulted in a death, either
at the site of the accident, during the subsequent
emergency transport, or at a medical care facility;
c) The number of accidents that resulted in nonfatal
injuries requiring transportation by air or ground
ambulance to a medical care facility; and,
d) The number of skier days and the number of days of full
or partial operation during the reporting period.
3)Requires any information relating to an accident victim's
identity to be redacted by the resort prior to submitting the
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report to DPH.
4)Requires DPH to post all reports onto its publicly accessible
Internet Website.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes DPH which, among other things, is dedicated to
optimizing the health and well-being of the people in
California, and includes the Safe and Active Communities
Branch which is the focal point for DPH's injury prevention
efforts, including both epidemiological investigations and
implementation of prevention programs to reduce intentional
and unintentional injuries.
2)Provides that the federal Secretary of Agriculture is
authorized to issue permits for the use and occupancy of lands
within the National Forest for nordic and alpine skiing
operations and purposes.
3)Establishes the federal Ski Area Recreational Opportunity
Enhancement Act of 2011 which permits, on National Forest
lands, additional snow sports as well as year-round activities
such as zip lines, and mountain bike terrain parks and trails.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill, as amended, has not been analyzed by
a fiscal committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, there is a
clear and significant but as yet undefined personal injury and
public safety risk at California's 26 ski resorts. The author
contends that more than 11,500 injured skiers and snowboarders
are seen in California hospital emergency rooms (ERs) and more
than 600 are admitted to California hospitals every year. The
author states there is no regulation or independent oversight
of safety on resort slopes and trails and that good public
policy is impossible without access to the injury and safety
information kept by resorts.
2)BACKGROUND . The Safe and Active Communities Branch in DPH
works on a wide variety of projects designed to prevent and
track injuries in California including developing an
electronic reporting system for local coroners to report
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detailed information on suicides and homicides and creating a
compendium of data on drug and alcohol abuse for county mental
health agencies. DPH evaluations of prevention projects have
documented sharp reductions in injuries from threats as
diverse as senior falls, pedestrian incidents and shaken baby
syndrome.
The Injury Surveillance and Epidemiology Section within DPH
has established a multi-year, statewide, online injury
database (EpiCenter) using coded hospital patient discharge
and ER visit information for California residents from the
Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. The
EpiCenter database supports customized, injury-specific
reports, however only some of the applicable injury codes
(unintentional falls from skis and snowboards) are exclusively
specific to ski and snowboard injuries. Other skiing
injuries, such as those resulting from collisions, may be
reported in other injury codes and cannot be specifically
identified or quantified.
3)SUPPORT . The California Ski & Snowboard Safety Organization
(CSSSO) is the sponsor of this bill and states that limited
injury statistics available from statewide hospital discharge
and ER visit data expose the magnitude of a significant gap in
available ski resort accident, injury and safety information.
CSSSO contends that this bill will provide public health
officials and policy makers with information to evaluate and
monitor public safety at ski resorts.
The California Chapter of the American College of Emergency
Physicians (California ACEP) states that during the winter
months California ACEP members treat patients with injuries
resulting from ski and snowboard accidents and that many of
these injuries could be avoided if patrons were aware of the
potential hazards at ski resorts. The California Medical
Association also supports this bill, writing that physicians
support the availability of accurate data on the incidences of
ski and snowboard injuries and deaths so that consumers have
the information to make informed choices.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) writes that ski
resorts attract millions of visitors annually and are not
subject to the same reporting regulation that is imposed on
highways, theme parks, and waterways. AAP contents that this
lack of accountability and transparency leads to a dearth of
information regarding injuries and that children and
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adolescents are particularly likely to suffer serious harm
from these activities. AAP concludes that increasing
reporting standards would allow resort goers to make more
educated decisions and would subsequently result in fewer
overall injuries.
4)OPPOSITION . The California Ski Industry Association (CSIA)
writes in opposition to this bill that injury information is
already reported to DPH and is made available to the public on
the DPH website. CSIA further contends that there has been no
demand for this information from the general public and they
believe this additional reporting of raw statistical
information would provide little or no benefit to the skiing
and snowboarding public. CSIA argues that skiing and
snowboarding by the very nature of the sport involve
well-recognized inherent risks including fluctuating and
unpredictable weather and snow conditions, variations in
terrain and natural features, and can also be exacerbated or
ameliorated by an individual's relative level of personal
conditioning and/or training. Finally, CSIA notes that, as
their resorts grapple with the crippling effects of an
extremely low snow-pack as a result of the ongoing historic
drought in California, they are concerned that exposing their
members to additional litigation would be extremely
detrimental to the industry and to California tourism in
general.
Sierra at Tahoe opposes this bill, stating they believe the
data would be used almost exclusively in litigation against
ski resort owners and operators to contend that one resort is
safer than another based on the number or type of incidents
that have occurred, and that these types of comparisons fail
to consider the vast differences in each resort's terrain, the
relative ability of skiers, ever-changing weather conditions,
and myriad other significant factors.
The California Travel Association is also opposed, and writes
that the travel and tourism sectors generate more than $96.7
billion for the state economy, employ over 924,100
Californians, and bring in approximately $2.2 billion in local
taxes. The Travel Association further notes that California's
ski resorts draw thousands of visitors to the state each year
and contribute substantially to our status as a premier travel
destination and this bill will force the ski industry to
comply with overly burdensome and prescriptive regulations
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that will compromise the enjoyment of snow sports and thereby
the number of visitors to California.
The California Chamber of Commerce opposes this bill, arguing
that it will expose California ski resorts to increased
liability by imposing burdensome and unnecessary new reporting
requirements regarding accidents.
5)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION .
a) SB 278 (Gaines) of 2011 was very similar to this bill
and would have required ski resorts to prepare an annual
safety plan and make it available to the public. SB 278
required a monthly report with specified details about any
fatal incidents at the resort which resulted from a
recreational activity, and required a ski resort to
establish a signage policy and a safety padding policy. SB
278 was vetoed by Governor Brown stating that, "the measure
is unnecessary -yet another exercise of the State's
regulatory power for objectives that, in the ordinary
course, are handled by private business or the people
themselves."
b) SB 1652 (Jones) of 2010 would have required ski resorts
to prepare an annual safety plan, and make the safety plan
available to the public upon 30 days of receipt of a
request. SB 1652 also would have required a ski resort to
establish its own signage policy and its own safety padding
policy for the resort. SB 1652 was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger stating that, "this bill may place an
unnecessary burden on resorts, without the assurance of a
significant reduction in ski and snowboard-related injuries
and fatalities."
c) SB 880 (Yee), Chapter 278, Statutes of 2010, requires
any person under 18 years of age to wear a properly fitted
and fastened snow sport helmet, that meets specified
standards, while downhill skiing or snowboarding, or while
riding upon a seat or other device that is attached, and
imposes a fine of $25 for a violation of this requirement.
d) AB 990 (Jones) of 2009 would have required ski resorts
to prepare and file an annual safety report with the
California Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(Cal/OSHA) and to report to the Cal/OSHA on a quarterly
basis any serious injuries or fatalities involving patrons
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at the ski resort. AB 990 died on the Suspense File in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
e) SB 284 (Cox) of 2009 would have required, among other
provisions, ski resorts to file an annual safety plan with
the division, make the safety plan available on demand,
report to the division within 24 hours any fatalities
involving patrons at the resort, and standardize safety
signage and equipment. SB 284 was set for a hearing in the
Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, but the
hearing was cancelled at the request of the author.
f) AB 2218 (Keeley) of 2002 would have created the
California Ski Safety Commission in order to adopt uniform
signs and provide a copy of its standards and
recommendations to all ski areas doing business in
California. AB 2218 failed passage in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
6)SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS .
a) As currently drafted the bill defines accidents as any
occurrence resulting in a death or an injury or injuries
other than those requiring only minimal first aid, such as
minor abrasions and bruises. The Committee may wish to
consider amending this bill to require DPH to develop more
specific definitions of the various types of injuries that
ski resorts are required to report, so that, for example, a
sprained ankle and a concussion would not be lumped into
the same category.
b) This bill also allows DPH to request additional
safety-related information as it deems necessary or
desirable and is available to the resort, and requires the
resort to respond to such requests on a timely basis.
These provisions would not be self-implementing and would
most likely require regulations. The Committee may wish to
delete this provision from this bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
California Ski & Snow Board Safety Organization (sponsor)
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Nurses Association\California
California Chapter of the American College of Emergency
Physicians
California Medical Association
Opposition
Big Bear Mountain Resorts
Big Bear Visitors Bureau
Boreal Mountain Resort
City of Big Bear Lake
California Chamber of Commerce
California Ski Industry Association
California Travel Association
Dodge Ridge Ski Area
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
Mt. Shasta Ski Park
National Ski Patrol
Northstar California
Sierra at Tahoe
Four individuals
Analysis Prepared by : Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097