Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB180 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R1908 PB-D
2	2	By: Gallegos S.B. No. 180
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the creation of a state occupational health and safety
8	8	plan; establishing a maintenance tax.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 411, Labor Code, is amended by adding
11	11	Subchapter I to read as follows:
12	12	SUBCHAPTER I. STATE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PLAN
13	13	Sec. 411.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
14	14	(1) "Employee" means an individual employed by an
15	15	employer.
16	16	(2) "Employer" means a person that employs one or more
17	17	individuals. The term does not include the state, a political
18	18	subdivision of the state, or another governmental entity in this
19	19	state.
20	20	Sec. 411.152. STATE PLAN. The commissioner shall develop a
21	21	state plan relating to state enforcement of occupational health and
22	22	safety standards. The state plan must comply with federal approval
23	23	requirements under Section 18, Occupational Safety and Health Act
24	24	of 1970 (29 U.S.C. Section 667). Standards adopted by the
25	25	commissioner under the state plan may not be more stringent than the
26	26	standards adopted by the United States Department of Labor.
27	27	Sec. 411.153. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER AND
28	28	DIVISION. (a) The department, through the division, is the state
29	29	agency generally charged with implementation and enforcement of
30	30	state laws and administrative rules relating to the protection of
31	31	the life, health, and safety of persons at their places of
32	32	employment. The division may obtain information from any
33	33	appropriate source, including employers, that relates to
34	34	occupational health and safety issues.
35	35	(b) The division may conduct inspections of places of
36	36	employment at reasonable times as necessary to implement this
37	37	subchapter.
38	38	(c) The division shall:
39	39	(1) gather, maintain, and publish statistical
40	40	information relating to occupational health and safety programs
41	41	operated by other states in order to obtain data for an ongoing
42	42	comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs
43	43	operated in this state;
44	44	(2) design and conduct research relating to the
45	45	prevention of job-related injuries and occupational disease;
46	46	(3) publish the results of its research;
47	47	(4) consult with employers regarding compliance with
48	48	state or federal occupational safety laws, rules, or agreements;
49	49	(5) develop programs designed to reduce job-related
50	50	injuries and occupational disease for use by employers, employees,
51	51	and other interested parties; and
52	52	(6) collect information relating to occupational
53	53	safety as required by state or federal laws, rules, or agreements.
54	54	(d) The commissioner may adopt rules and prescribe forms as
55	55	necessary to implement this subchapter.
56	56	(e) The division may charge fees for its publications and
57	57	for seminars and training programs offered by the division. The
58	58	commissioner shall set the fees in amounts reasonable and necessary
59	59	to cover administrative costs.
60	60	Sec. 411.154. EMPLOYER CLASSIFICATIONS; CONSULTATIONS.
61	61	(a) The division shall collect and compile information relating to
62	62	the job-related accident experience of each employer, including:
63	63	(1) the frequency of accidents;
64	64	(2) the existence and implementation of private safety
65	65	programs by the employer;
66	66	(3) man-hour losses due to employee injuries; and
67	67	(4) other factors considered relevant by the division.
68	68	(b) Based on the compiled information, the division shall:
69	69	(1) classify employers as necessary and appropriate to
70	70	assist employers in providing safe and healthful conditions of
71	71	employment; and
72	72	(2) identify hazardous occupations.
73	73	(c) On the written request of an employer, the division may
74	74	consult with and advise the employer or the employer's
75	75	representative regarding the improvement of the employer's
76	76	accident frequency rate and the elimination or reduction of
77	77	impediments to occupational health and safety at the employer's
78	78	place of business.
79	79	Sec. 411.155. TASK FORCE ON CERTAIN HIGH-RISK WORKSITES.
80	80	(a) The commissioner shall establish within the division a task
81	81	force to inspect high-risk worksites at facilities primarily
82	82	engaged in the manufacture or distribution of products or
83	83	materials:
84	84	(1) identified as known or probable carcinogens; or
85	85	(2) with known or recognizable flammable or explosive
86	86	properties.
87	87	(b) The task force shall inspect facilities described by
88	88	Subsection (a) as necessary to determine that the facilities:
89	89	(1) comply with process safety standards;
90	90	(2) conform to established safety standards in the
91	91	applicable industry; and
92	92	(3) operate within all guidelines, rules, and
93	93	regulations established by the Texas Commission on Environmental
94	94	Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other state
95	95	or federal agency involved in the monitoring or regulation of
96	96	environmental standards.
97	97	(c) The task force shall oversee monitoring programs
98	98	established to require facilities described by Subsection (a) to be
99	99	inspected with proper detection devices for any leaks of materials
100	100	described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2).
101	101	Sec. 411.156. FUNDING; MAINTENANCE TAX. (a) The
102	102	occupational health and safety plan adopted under this subchapter
103	103	is funded through the assessment of an annual maintenance tax
104	104	collected from each stock insurance company, mutual insurance
105	105	company, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, and Lloyd's plan
106	106	that writes workers' compensation insurance in this state. The
107	107	commissioner of insurance shall set the rate of the maintenance tax
108	108	in an amount not to exceed one percent of the correctly reported
109	109	gross workers' compensation insurance premiums of those insurers as
110	110	reported to the department under Subtitle E, Title 10, Insurance
111	111	Code. The commissioner of insurance shall set the rate of
112	112	assessment each year to produce the amount of funds that the
113	113	commissioner estimates will be necessary to operate the
114	114	occupational health and safety plan. The tax assessed under this
115	115	section is in addition to all other taxes imposed on those insurers
116	116	for workers' compensation purposes and shall be paid to the
117	117	department at the same time that the insurers pay the maintenance
118	118	tax imposed under Chapter 255, Insurance Code.
119	119	(b) The commissioner of insurance may adopt rules as
120	120	necessary relating to the assessment and collection of the
121	121	maintenance tax imposed under Subsection (a).
122	122	(c) The department shall remit all funds received under this
123	123	section to the comptroller for deposit in the state treasury to the
124	124	credit of the general revenue fund.
125	125	Sec. 411.157. DUTIES OF EMPLOYER AND WORKSITE OWNER. (a)
126	126	Each employer shall furnish and maintain a safe and healthful
127	127	employee work environment. The employer shall install, maintain,
128	128	and use those methods, processes, devices, and safeguards as are
129	129	necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees.
130	130	(b) Each employer and worksite owner shall report to the
131	131	division in the manner prescribed by the rules of the commissioner
132	132	information relating to personal injuries, fatalities, accidents,
133	133	and other occupational health and safety issues related to the
134	134	employer's place of business or the worksite, as applicable. The
135	135	employer and worksite owner shall report on forms prescribed by and
136	136	covering time periods designated by the commissioner.
137	137	SECTION 2. Section 502.003, Health and Safety Code, is
138	138	amended by adding Subdivision (4-a) and by amending Subdivision (8)
139	139	to read as follows:
140	140	(4-a) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of
141	141	workers' compensation.
142	142	(8) "Division" means the division of workers'
143	143	compensation of the Texas Department of Insurance ["Director" means
144	144	the director of the Texas Department of Health].
145	145	SECTION 3. Chapter 502, Health and Safety Code, is amended
146	146	by adding Section 502.0035 to read as follows:
147	147	Sec. 502.0035. ADMINISTRATION; REFERENCES. (a)
148	148	Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, this chapter
149	149	is administered by the commissioner.
150	150	(b) A reference in this chapter to the Texas Board of
151	151	Health, the Texas Department of Health, a successor agency to that
152	152	board or department, or to the director means the commissioner or
153	153	the division, or a successor officer or agency to the commissioner
154	154	or division, as appropriate.
155	155	SECTION 4. Section 411.018, Labor Code, is repealed.
156	156	SECTION 5. The commissioner of workers' compensation shall
157	157	adopt rules as necessary to implement Subchapter I, Chapter 411,
158	158	Labor Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2010,
159	159	and shall implement the state occupational health and safety plan
160	160	not later than September 1, 2010.
161	161	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.