California Assembly Bill AB2774 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2774AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Labor and Employment (Swanson (Chair), Furutani, Monning, and Yamada) MARCH 1, 2010 An act to amend Section 6302 of the Labor Code, relating to employment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2774, as amended, Committee on Labor and Employment. Occupational safety and health. Existing law authorizes the Department of Occupational Safety and Health to enforce health and safety standards in places of employment and to investigate and to issue a citation when an employer causes an employee to suffer or potentially suffer, among other things, "serious injury or illness" or "serious physical harm." Existing law defines a "serious injury or illness," generally, as a workplace injury or illness requiring hospitalization of more than 24 hours or resulting in the loss of a body member or in permanent disfigurement. This bill would define "serious physical harm" to include most categories of a "serious injury or illness," but would also include those resulting in physical impairment of a part of the body or from  a single cause or from  the cumulative effect of multiple injuries or illnesses. 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. Section 6302 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 6302. As used in this division: (a) "Director" means the Director of Industrial Relations. (b) "Department" means the Department of Industrial Relations. (c) "Insurer" includes the State Compensation Insurance Fund and any private company, corporation, mutual association, and reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, authorized under the laws of this state to insure employers against liability for compensation under this part and under Division 4 (commencing with Section 3201), and any employer to whom a certificate of consent to self-insure has been issued. (d) "Division" means the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. (e) "Standards board" means the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, within the department. (f) "Appeals board" means the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, within the department. (g) "Aquaculture" means a form of agriculture as defined in Section 17 of the Fish and Game Code. (h) "Serious injury or illness" means any injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment which requires inpatient hospitalization for a period in excess of 24 hours for other than medical observation or in which an employee suffers a loss of any member of the body or suffers any serious degree of permanent disfigurement, but does not include any injury or illness or death caused by the commission of a Penal Code violation, except the violation of Section 385 of the Penal Code, or an accident on a public street or highway. (i) "Serious exposure" means any exposure of an employee to a hazardous substance when the exposure occurs as a result of an incident, accident, emergency, or exposure over time and is in a degree or amount sufficient to create a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm in the future could result from the exposure. (j) (1) "Serious physical harm" means any injury or illness, specific or cumulative, occurring in the place  or   of  employment or in connection with any employment, which  is the consequence of a condition, practice, means, method, operation, or process that meets   results in  any of the following: (A)  Requires inpatient   Inpatient  hospitalization for a period in excess of 24 hours for other than medical observation. (B)  Causes an employee to suffer the   The  loss of any member of the body. (C)  Causes an employee to suffer any   Any  serious degree of permanent disfigurement.  (D) Could reasonably lead to impairment of a part of the body by substantially reducing its efficiency on or off the job for more than 24 hours.   (D) Impairment of the body in which part of the body is made functionally useless or is substantially reduced in efficiency on or off the job for more than 72 hours.   (E) A serious illness or impairment of the function of an organ, such as the heart, lungs, liver, skin, and nervous system, that substantially reduces efficiency on or off the job. An illness or impairment of this type would usually require treatment beyond first aid by a medical doctor or other licensed health care professional.   (2) A single condition, practice, means, method, operation, or process can be properly classified as resulting in "serious physical harm."   (2) "Serious physical harm" may be caused by a single, repetitive practice, means, method, operation, or process.