6350. The division shall maintain an education and research program
for the purpose of providing in-service training of division
personnel, safety education for employees and employers, research and
consulting safety services.
6351. The division shall be responsible for preparation and
distribution of information concerning occupational safety and health
programs, methods, techniques or devices. Such information may
include but is not limited to safety publications, films and
audiovisual material, speeches and conferences on safety.
6352. The division shall provide safety training programs, upon
request, for employees and employers. Priority for the development of
safety training programs shall be in those occupations which pose
the greatest hazard to the safety and health of employees.
6353. The division shall conduct continuing research into methods,
means, operations, techniques, processes and practices necessary for
improvement of occupational safety and health of employees.
6354. The division shall, upon request, provide a full range of
occupational safety and health consulting services to any employer or
employee group. These consulting services shall include:
(a) A program for identifying categories of occupational safety
and health hazards causing the greatest number and most serious
preventable injuries and illnesses and workers' compensation losses
and the places of employment where they are occurring. The hazards,
industries, and places of employment shall be identified from the
data system that is used in the targeted inspection program pursuant
to Section 6314.1. The division shall develop procedures for offering
consultation services to high hazard employers who are identified
pursuant to this section. The services may include the development of
educational material and procedures for reducing or eliminating
safety and health hazards, conducting workplace surveys to identify
health and safety problems, and development of plans to improve
employer health and safety loss records.
The program shall include a component for reducing the number of
work-related, repetitive motion injuries, including, but not limited
to, back injuries. The division may formulate recommendations for
reducing repetitive motion injuries after conducting a survey of the
workplace of the employer who accepts services of the division. The
recommendations shall include, wherever appropriate, the application
of generally accepted ergonomic and engineering principles to
eliminate repetitive motions that are generally expected to result in
injuries to workers. The recommendations shall also include,
wherever appropriate, training programs to instruct workers in
methods for performing job-related movements, such as lifting heavy
objects, in a manner that minimizes strain and provides safeguards
against injury.
The division shall establish model injury and illness prevention
training programs to prevent repetitive motion injuries, including
recommendations for the minimum qualifications of instructors. The
model programs shall be made available to employers, employer
associations, workers' compensation insurers, and employee
organizations on request.
(b) A program for providing assistance in the development of
injury prevention programs for employees and employers. The highest
priority for the division's consulting services shall be given to
development of these programs for businesses with fewer than 250
employees in industries identified in the regional plans developed
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6314.1.
(c) A program for providing employers or employees with
information, advice, and recommendations on maintaining safe
employment or place of employment, and on applicable occupational
safety and health standards, techniques, devices, methods, practices,
or programs.
6354.5. (a) Any insurer desiring to write workers' compensation
insurance shall maintain or provide occupational safety and health
loss control consultation services. The insurer may employ qualified
personnel to provide these services or provide the services through
another entity.
(b) The program of an insurer for furnishing loss control
consultation services shall be adequate to meet minimum standards
prescribed by this section. Required loss control consultation
services shall be adequate to identify the hazards exposing the
insured to, or causing the insured, significant workers' compensation
losses, and to advise the insured of steps needed to mitigate the
identified workers' compensation losses or exposures. The program of
an insurer for furnishing loss control consultation services shall
provide all of the following:
(1) A workplace survey, including discussions with management and,
where appropriate, nonmanagement personnel with permission of the
employer.
(2) A review of injury records with appropriate personnel.
(3) The development of a plan to improve the employer's health and
safety loss control experience, which shall include, where
appropriate, modifications to the employer's injury and illness
prevention program established pursuant to Section 6401.7. At the
time that an insurance policy is issued and annually thereafter, and
again when notified by Cal-OSHA that an insured employer has been
identified as a targeted employer pursuant to Section 6314.1, the
insurer shall provide each insured employer with a written
description of the consultation services together with a notice that
the services are available at no additional charge to the employer.
These notices to the employer shall appear in at least 10-point bold
type.
(c) The insurer shall not charge any fee in addition to the
insurance premium for safety and health loss control consultation
services.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require insurers
to provide loss control services to places of employment that do not
pose significant preventable hazards to workers.
(e) The director shall establish an insurance loss control
services coordinator position in the Department of Industrial
Relations. The coordinator shall provide information to employers
about the availability of loss control consultation services and
respond to employers' questions and complaints about loss control
consultation services provided by their insurer. The coordinator
shall notify the insurer of every complaint concerning loss control
consultation services. If the employer and the insurer are unable to
agree on a mutually satisfactory solution to the complaint, the
coordinator shall investigate the complaint. Whenever the coordinator
determines that the loss control consultation services provided by
the insurer are inadequate or inappropriate, he or she shall
recommend to the employer and the insurer the actions required to
bring the loss control program into compliance. If the employer and
the insurer are unable to agree on a mutually satisfactory solution
to the complaint, the coordinator shall forward his or her
recommendations to the director. The cost of providing the
coordinator services shall be paid out of the Workers' Occupational
Safety and Health Education Fund created by subdivision (a) of
Section 6354.7. However, no more than 20 percent of that fund may be
expended for this purpose each year.
6354.7. (a) The Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education
Fund is hereby created as a special account in the State Treasury.
Proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers'
Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program and
insurance loss control services coordinator. The director shall levy
and collect fees to fund these purposes from insurers subject to
Section 6354.5. However, the fee assessed against any insurer shall
not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars ($100) or 0.0286
percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity claims as reported
for the previous calendar year to the designated rating organization
for the analysis required under subdivision (b) of Section 11759.1 of
the Insurance Code. All fees shall be deposited in the fund.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a worker safety
and health training and education program. The purpose of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program shall
be 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.
(c) The commission shall establish an employer and worker advisory
board for the program. The advisory board shall guide the
development of curricula, teaching methods, and specific course
material about occupational safety and health, and shall assist in
providing links to the target audience and broadening the
partnerships with worker-based organizations, labor studies programs,
and others that are able to reach the target audience.
(d) The program shall include the development and provision of a
needed core curriculum addressing competencies for effective
participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs and
on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core
curriculum shall include an overview of the requirements related to
injury and illness prevention programs and hazard communication.
(e) The program shall include the development and provision of
additional training programs for any or all of the following
categories:
(1) Industries on the high hazard list.
(2) Hazards that result in significant worker injuries, illnesses,
or compensation costs.
(3) Industries or trades where workers are experiencing numerous
or significant injuries or illnesses.
(4) Occupational groups 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. Priority shall be given to training
workers who are able to train other workers and workers who have
significant health and safety responsibilities, such as those workers
serving on a health and safety committee or serving as designated
safety representatives.
(f) The program shall operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, which shall include, but not be limited to, all material
developed by the program pursuant to this section.
(g) The advisory board shall annually prepare a written report
evaluating the use and impact of programs developed.
(h) The payment of administrative costs incurred by the commission
in conducting the program shall be made from the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund.
6354.7. (a) The Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education
Fund is hereby created as a special account in the State Treasury.
Proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers'
Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program and an
insurance loss control services coordinator. The director shall levy
and collect fees to fund these purposes from insurers subject to
Section 6354.5. However, the fee assessed against any insurer shall
not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars ($100) or 0.0286
percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity amounts for claims as
reported for the previous calendar year to the designated rating
organization for the analysis required under subdivisions (b) and (c)
of Section 11759.1 of the Insurance Code. All fees shall be
deposited in the fund.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a worker safety
and health training and education program. The purpose of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program shall
be 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.
(c) The commission shall establish an employer and worker advisory
board for the program. The advisory board shall guide the
development of curricula, teaching methods, and specific course
material about occupational safety and health, and shall assist in
providing links to the target audience and broadening the
partnerships with worker-based organizations, labor studies programs,
and others that are able to reach the target audience.
(d) The program shall include the development and provision of a
needed core curriculum addressing competencies for effective
participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs and
on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core
curriculum shall include an overview of the requirements related to
injury and illness prevention programs and hazard communication.
(e) The program shall include the development and provision of
additional training programs for any or all of the following
categories:
(1) Industries on the high hazard list.
(2) Hazards that result in significant worker injuries, illnesses,
or compensation costs.
(3) Industries or trades in which workers are experiencing
numerous or significant injuries or illnesses.
(4) Occupational groups 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. Priority shall be given to training
workers who are able to train other workers and workers who have
significant health and safety responsibilities, such as those workers
serving on a health and safety committee or serving as designated
safety representatives.
(f) The program shall operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, which shall include, but not be limited to, all material
developed by the program pursuant to this section.
(g) The advisory board shall annually prepare a written report
evaluating the use and impact of programs developed.
(h) The payment of administrative costs incurred by the commission
in conducting the program shall be made from the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund.
6355. If the employer requests or accepts consulting services
offered pursuant to Section 6354, the division in providing such
services at the employer's employment or place of employment shall
neither institute any prosecution under Section 6423 nor issue any
citations for a violation of any standard or order adopted pursuant
to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 140) of Division 1. In any
instance in which the division representative providing the
consulting service finds that the conditions of employment, place of
employment, any work procedure, or the operation of any machine,
device, apparatus, or equipment constitutes an imminent hazard or
danger, within the meaning of Section 6325, to the lives, safety, or
health of employees, entry therein, or the use thereof, as the case
may be, shall be prohibited by the division pursuant to Section 6325.
The employer shall not, however, be liable to prosecution under
Section 6423, nor shall the division issue any citations or assess
any civil penalties, except in any case where the employer fails to
comply with the division's prohibition of entry or use, or in any
case where the provisions of Section 6326 apply.
6356. (a) There is hereby created, in the General Fund, the Worker
Safety Bilingual Investigative Support, Enforcement, and Training
Account. The moneys in the account may be expended by the department,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this
part.
(b) The department may receive and accept a contribution of funds
from an individual or private organization, including the proceeds
from a judgment in a state or federal court, if the contribution is
made to carry out the purposes of this part. The department shall
immediately deposit the contribution in the account established by
subdivision (a).
(c) The department may not receive or accept a contribution of
funds under this section made from the proceeds of a judgment in a
criminal action filed pursuant to Section 6423 or 6425 of the Labor
Code.
6357. On or before January 1, 1995, the Occupational Safety and
Health Standards Board shall adopt standards for ergonomics in the
workplace designed to minimize the instances of injury from
repetitive motion.
6359. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Every year 70 adolescents die from work injuries in the United
States and 200,000 are injured, 70,000 seriously enough to require
hospital treatment. Most of these injuries are preventable.
(2) A recent report by the Institute of Medicine and the National
Research Council has brought national attention to the need for
better education and interventions to aid injury and illness
prevention efforts aimed at young workers.
(3) Since 1996, the California Study Group on Young Workers'
Health and Safety, consisting of 30 representatives from key agencies
and organizations involved with California youth employment and
education issues, including representatives from government agencies,
business, labor, parent and teacher organizations, and others, has
met to develop recommendations to better protect and educate
California's young workers.
(4) The study group recommended the establishment of a Resource
Network on Young Workers' Health and Safety, to assist in increasing
the ability of young workers and their communities to identify and
address workplace hazards in order to prevent young workers from
becoming injured or ill on the job.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Industrial Relations, the University of California, the State
Department of Education, the State Department of Health Services, and
the Employment Development Department cooperatively and individually
conduct activities aimed at the prevention of occupational injuries
and illnesses among young workers.
(c) The Department of Industrial Relations shall contract with a
coordinator to establish a statewide young worker health and safety
resource network. The primary function of the resource network shall
be to assist in increasing the ability of young workers and their
communities statewide to identify and address workplace hazards in
order to prevent young workers from becoming injured or ill on the
job. The network shall coordinate and augment existing outreach and
education efforts and provide technical assistance, education
materials and other support to schools, job training programs,
employers and other organizations working to educate students and
their communities about workplace health and safety and child labor
laws.
(d) The resource network shall provide, and the lead center shall
coordinate, services to all key groups throughout the state involved
in education and protecting young workers, including, but not limited
to:
(1) Teachers.
(2) Schools.
(3) Job training programs.
(4) Employers of youth.
(5) Parent groups.
(6) Youth organizations.
(7) Work permit issuers.
(e) The resource network shall be advised by a statewide advisory
group, including, but not limited to, representatives from the
Department of Industrial Relations, the Commission on Health and
Safety and Worker's Compensation, the University of California, the
State Department of Education, the Department of Health Services, and
the Employment Development Department, as well as business, labor,
parents, and others experienced in working with youth doing
agricultural and nonagricultural work. The advisory group shall
represent diverse geographic regions of the state.
(f) This section shall be implemented subject to the availability
of funding for the purposes of this section in the 2000-01 Budget
Act.
6350. The division shall maintain an education and research program
for the purpose of providing in-service training of division
personnel, safety education for employees and employers, research and
consulting safety services.
6351. The division shall be responsible for preparation and
distribution of information concerning occupational safety and health
programs, methods, techniques or devices. Such information may
include but is not limited to safety publications, films and
audiovisual material, speeches and conferences on safety.
6352. The division shall provide safety training programs, upon
request, for employees and employers. Priority for the development of
safety training programs shall be in those occupations which pose
the greatest hazard to the safety and health of employees.
6353. The division shall conduct continuing research into methods,
means, operations, techniques, processes and practices necessary for
improvement of occupational safety and health of employees.
6354. The division shall, upon request, provide a full range of
occupational safety and health consulting services to any employer or
employee group. These consulting services shall include:
(a) A program for identifying categories of occupational safety
and health hazards causing the greatest number and most serious
preventable injuries and illnesses and workers' compensation losses
and the places of employment where they are occurring. The hazards,
industries, and places of employment shall be identified from the
data system that is used in the targeted inspection program pursuant
to Section 6314.1. The division shall develop procedures for offering
consultation services to high hazard employers who are identified
pursuant to this section. The services may include the development of
educational material and procedures for reducing or eliminating
safety and health hazards, conducting workplace surveys to identify
health and safety problems, and development of plans to improve
employer health and safety loss records.
The program shall include a component for reducing the number of
work-related, repetitive motion injuries, including, but not limited
to, back injuries. The division may formulate recommendations for
reducing repetitive motion injuries after conducting a survey of the
workplace of the employer who accepts services of the division. The
recommendations shall include, wherever appropriate, the application
of generally accepted ergonomic and engineering principles to
eliminate repetitive motions that are generally expected to result in
injuries to workers. The recommendations shall also include,
wherever appropriate, training programs to instruct workers in
methods for performing job-related movements, such as lifting heavy
objects, in a manner that minimizes strain and provides safeguards
against injury.
The division shall establish model injury and illness prevention
training programs to prevent repetitive motion injuries, including
recommendations for the minimum qualifications of instructors. The
model programs shall be made available to employers, employer
associations, workers' compensation insurers, and employee
organizations on request.
(b) A program for providing assistance in the development of
injury prevention programs for employees and employers. The highest
priority for the division's consulting services shall be given to
development of these programs for businesses with fewer than 250
employees in industries identified in the regional plans developed
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6314.1.
(c) A program for providing employers or employees with
information, advice, and recommendations on maintaining safe
employment or place of employment, and on applicable occupational
safety and health standards, techniques, devices, methods, practices,
or programs.
6354.5. (a) Any insurer desiring to write workers' compensation
insurance shall maintain or provide occupational safety and health
loss control consultation services. The insurer may employ qualified
personnel to provide these services or provide the services through
another entity.
(b) The program of an insurer for furnishing loss control
consultation services shall be adequate to meet minimum standards
prescribed by this section. Required loss control consultation
services shall be adequate to identify the hazards exposing the
insured to, or causing the insured, significant workers' compensation
losses, and to advise the insured of steps needed to mitigate the
identified workers' compensation losses or exposures. The program of
an insurer for furnishing loss control consultation services shall
provide all of the following:
(1) A workplace survey, including discussions with management and,
where appropriate, nonmanagement personnel with permission of the
employer.
(2) A review of injury records with appropriate personnel.
(3) The development of a plan to improve the employer's health and
safety loss control experience, which shall include, where
appropriate, modifications to the employer's injury and illness
prevention program established pursuant to Section 6401.7. At the
time that an insurance policy is issued and annually thereafter, and
again when notified by Cal-OSHA that an insured employer has been
identified as a targeted employer pursuant to Section 6314.1, the
insurer shall provide each insured employer with a written
description of the consultation services together with a notice that
the services are available at no additional charge to the employer.
These notices to the employer shall appear in at least 10-point bold
type.
(c) The insurer shall not charge any fee in addition to the
insurance premium for safety and health loss control consultation
services.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require insurers
to provide loss control services to places of employment that do not
pose significant preventable hazards to workers.
(e) The director shall establish an insurance loss control
services coordinator position in the Department of Industrial
Relations. The coordinator shall provide information to employers
about the availability of loss control consultation services and
respond to employers' questions and complaints about loss control
consultation services provided by their insurer. The coordinator
shall notify the insurer of every complaint concerning loss control
consultation services. If the employer and the insurer are unable to
agree on a mutually satisfactory solution to the complaint, the
coordinator shall investigate the complaint. Whenever the coordinator
determines that the loss control consultation services provided by
the insurer are inadequate or inappropriate, he or she shall
recommend to the employer and the insurer the actions required to
bring the loss control program into compliance. If the employer and
the insurer are unable to agree on a mutually satisfactory solution
to the complaint, the coordinator shall forward his or her
recommendations to the director. The cost of providing the
coordinator services shall be paid out of the Workers' Occupational
Safety and Health Education Fund created by subdivision (a) of
Section 6354.7. However, no more than 20 percent of that fund may be
expended for this purpose each year.
6354.7. (a) The Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education
Fund is hereby created as a special account in the State Treasury.
Proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers'
Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program and
insurance loss control services coordinator. The director shall levy
and collect fees to fund these purposes from insurers subject to
Section 6354.5. However, the fee assessed against any insurer shall
not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars ($100) or 0.0286
percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity claims as reported
for the previous calendar year to the designated rating organization
for the analysis required under subdivision (b) of Section 11759.1 of
the Insurance Code. All fees shall be deposited in the fund.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a worker safety
and health training and education program. The purpose of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program shall
be 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.
(c) The commission shall establish an employer and worker advisory
board for the program. The advisory board shall guide the
development of curricula, teaching methods, and specific course
material about occupational safety and health, and shall assist in
providing links to the target audience and broadening the
partnerships with worker-based organizations, labor studies programs,
and others that are able to reach the target audience.
(d) The program shall include the development and provision of a
needed core curriculum addressing competencies for effective
participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs and
on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core
curriculum shall include an overview of the requirements related to
injury and illness prevention programs and hazard communication.
(e) The program shall include the development and provision of
additional training programs for any or all of the following
categories:
(1) Industries on the high hazard list.
(2) Hazards that result in significant worker injuries, illnesses,
or compensation costs.
(3) Industries or trades where workers are experiencing numerous
or significant injuries or illnesses.
(4) Occupational groups 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. Priority shall be given to training
workers who are able to train other workers and workers who have
significant health and safety responsibilities, such as those workers
serving on a health and safety committee or serving as designated
safety representatives.
(f) The program shall operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, which shall include, but not be limited to, all material
developed by the program pursuant to this section.
(g) The advisory board shall annually prepare a written report
evaluating the use and impact of programs developed.
(h) The payment of administrative costs incurred by the commission
in conducting the program shall be made from the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund.
6354.7. (a) The Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education
Fund is hereby created as a special account in the State Treasury.
Proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers'
Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program and an
insurance loss control services coordinator. The director shall levy
and collect fees to fund these purposes from insurers subject to
Section 6354.5. However, the fee assessed against any insurer shall
not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars ($100) or 0.0286
percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity amounts for claims as
reported for the previous calendar year to the designated rating
organization for the analysis required under subdivisions (b) and (c)
of Section 11759.1 of the Insurance Code. All fees shall be
deposited in the fund.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a worker safety
and health training and education program. The purpose of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program shall
be 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.
(c) The commission shall establish an employer and worker advisory
board for the program. The advisory board shall guide the
development of curricula, teaching methods, and specific course
material about occupational safety and health, and shall assist in
providing links to the target audience and broadening the
partnerships with worker-based organizations, labor studies programs,
and others that are able to reach the target audience.
(d) The program shall include the development and provision of a
needed core curriculum addressing competencies for effective
participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs and
on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core
curriculum shall include an overview of the requirements related to
injury and illness prevention programs and hazard communication.
(e) The program shall include the development and provision of
additional training programs for any or all of the following
categories:
(1) Industries on the high hazard list.
(2) Hazards that result in significant worker injuries, illnesses,
or compensation costs.
(3) Industries or trades in which workers are experiencing
numerous or significant injuries or illnesses.
(4) Occupational groups 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. Priority shall be given to training
workers who are able to train other workers and workers who have
significant health and safety responsibilities, such as those workers
serving on a health and safety committee or serving as designated
safety representatives.
(f) The program shall operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, which shall include, but not be limited to, all material
developed by the program pursuant to this section.
(g) The advisory board shall annually prepare a written report
evaluating the use and impact of programs developed.
(h) The payment of administrative costs incurred by the commission
in conducting the program shall be made from the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund.
6355. If the employer requests or accepts consulting services
offered pursuant to Section 6354, the division in providing such
services at the employer's employment or place of employment shall
neither institute any prosecution under Section 6423 nor issue any
citations for a violation of any standard or order adopted pursuant
to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 140) of Division 1. In any
instance in which the division representative providing the
consulting service finds that the conditions of employment, place of
employment, any work procedure, or the operation of any machine,
device, apparatus, or equipment constitutes an imminent hazard or
danger, within the meaning of Section 6325, to the lives, safety, or
health of employees, entry therein, or the use thereof, as the case
may be, shall be prohibited by the division pursuant to Section 6325.
The employer shall not, however, be liable to prosecution under
Section 6423, nor shall the division issue any citations or assess
any civil penalties, except in any case where the employer fails to
comply with the division's prohibition of entry or use, or in any
case where the provisions of Section 6326 apply.
6356. (a) There is hereby created, in the General Fund, the Worker
Safety Bilingual Investigative Support, Enforcement, and Training
Account. The moneys in the account may be expended by the department,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this
part.
(b) The department may receive and accept a contribution of funds
from an individual or private organization, including the proceeds
from a judgment in a state or federal court, if the contribution is
made to carry out the purposes of this part. The department shall
immediately deposit the contribution in the account established by
subdivision (a).
(c) The department may not receive or accept a contribution of
funds under this section made from the proceeds of a judgment in a
criminal action filed pursuant to Section 6423 or 6425 of the Labor
Code.
6357. On or before January 1, 1995, the Occupational Safety and
Health Standards Board shall adopt standards for ergonomics in the
workplace designed to minimize the instances of injury from
repetitive motion.
6359. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Every year 70 adolescents die from work injuries in the United
States and 200,000 are injured, 70,000 seriously enough to require
hospital treatment. Most of these injuries are preventable.
(2) A recent report by the Institute of Medicine and the National
Research Council has brought national attention to the need for
better education and interventions to aid injury and illness
prevention efforts aimed at young workers.
(3) Since 1996, the California Study Group on Young Workers'
Health and Safety, consisting of 30 representatives from key agencies
and organizations involved with California youth employment and
education issues, including representatives from government agencies,
business, labor, parent and teacher organizations, and others, has
met to develop recommendations to better protect and educate
California's young workers.
(4) The study group recommended the establishment of a Resource
Network on Young Workers' Health and Safety, to assist in increasing
the ability of young workers and their communities to identify and
address workplace hazards in order to prevent young workers from
becoming injured or ill on the job.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Industrial Relations, the University of California, the State
Department of Education, the State Department of Health Services, and
the Employment Development Department cooperatively and individually
conduct activities aimed at the prevention of occupational injuries
and illnesses among young workers.
(c) The Department of Industrial Relations shall contract with a
coordinator to establish a statewide young worker health and safety
resource network. The primary function of the resource network shall
be to assist in increasing the ability of young workers and their
communities statewide to identify and address workplace hazards in
order to prevent young workers from becoming injured or ill on the
job. The network shall coordinate and augment existing outreach and
education efforts and provide technical assistance, education
materials and other support to schools, job training programs,
employers and other organizations working to educate students and
their communities about workplace health and safety and child labor
laws.
(d) The resource network shall provide, and the lead center shall
coordinate, services to all key groups throughout the state involved
in education and protecting young workers, including, but not limited
to:
(1) Teachers.
(2) Schools.
(3) Job training programs.
(4) Employers of youth.
(5) Parent groups.
(6) Youth organizations.
(7) Work permit issuers.
(e) The resource network shall be advised by a statewide advisory
group, including, but not limited to, representatives from the
Department of Industrial Relations, the Commission on Health and
Safety and Worker's Compensation, the University of California, the
State Department of Education, the Department of Health Services, and
the Employment Development Department, as well as business, labor,
parents, and others experienced in working with youth doing
agricultural and nonagricultural work. The advisory group shall
represent diverse geographic regions of the state.
(f) This section shall be implemented subject to the availability
of funding for the purposes of this section in the 2000-01 Budget
Act.
6350. The division shall maintain an education and research program
for the purpose of providing in-service training of division
personnel, safety education for employees and employers, research and
consulting safety services.
6351. The division shall be responsible for preparation and
distribution of information concerning occupational safety and health
programs, methods, techniques or devices. Such information may
include but is not limited to safety publications, films and
audiovisual material, speeches and conferences on safety.
6352. The division shall provide safety training programs, upon
request, for employees and employers. Priority for the development of
safety training programs shall be in those occupations which pose
the greatest hazard to the safety and health of employees.
6353. The division shall conduct continuing research into methods,
means, operations, techniques, processes and practices necessary for
improvement of occupational safety and health of employees.
6354. The division shall, upon request, provide a full range of
occupational safety and health consulting services to any employer or
employee group. These consulting services shall include:
(a) A program for identifying categories of occupational safety
and health hazards causing the greatest number and most serious
preventable injuries and illnesses and workers' compensation losses
and the places of employment where they are occurring. The hazards,
industries, and places of employment shall be identified from the
data system that is used in the targeted inspection program pursuant
to Section 6314.1. The division shall develop procedures for offering
consultation services to high hazard employers who are identified
pursuant to this section. The services may include the development of
educational material and procedures for reducing or eliminating
safety and health hazards, conducting workplace surveys to identify
health and safety problems, and development of plans to improve
employer health and safety loss records.
The program shall include a component for reducing the number of
work-related, repetitive motion injuries, including, but not limited
to, back injuries. The division may formulate recommendations for
reducing repetitive motion injuries after conducting a survey of the
workplace of the employer who accepts services of the division. The
recommendations shall include, wherever appropriate, the application
of generally accepted ergonomic and engineering principles to
eliminate repetitive motions that are generally expected to result in
injuries to workers. The recommendations shall also include,
wherever appropriate, training programs to instruct workers in
methods for performing job-related movements, such as lifting heavy
objects, in a manner that minimizes strain and provides safeguards
against injury.
The division shall establish model injury and illness prevention
training programs to prevent repetitive motion injuries, including
recommendations for the minimum qualifications of instructors. The
model programs shall be made available to employers, employer
associations, workers' compensation insurers, and employee
organizations on request.
(b) A program for providing assistance in the development of
injury prevention programs for employees and employers. The highest
priority for the division's consulting services shall be given to
development of these programs for businesses with fewer than 250
employees in industries identified in the regional plans developed
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6314.1.
(c) A program for providing employers or employees with
information, advice, and recommendations on maintaining safe
employment or place of employment, and on applicable occupational
safety and health standards, techniques, devices, methods, practices,
or programs.
6354.5. (a) Any insurer desiring to write workers' compensation
insurance shall maintain or provide occupational safety and health
loss control consultation services. The insurer may employ qualified
personnel to provide these services or provide the services through
another entity.
(b) The program of an insurer for furnishing loss control
consultation services shall be adequate to meet minimum standards
prescribed by this section. Required loss control consultation
services shall be adequate to identify the hazards exposing the
insured to, or causing the insured, significant workers' compensation
losses, and to advise the insured of steps needed to mitigate the
identified workers' compensation losses or exposures. The program of
an insurer for furnishing loss control consultation services shall
provide all of the following:
(1) A workplace survey, including discussions with management and,
where appropriate, nonmanagement personnel with permission of the
employer.
(2) A review of injury records with appropriate personnel.
(3) The development of a plan to improve the employer's health and
safety loss control experience, which shall include, where
appropriate, modifications to the employer's injury and illness
prevention program established pursuant to Section 6401.7. At the
time that an insurance policy is issued and annually thereafter, and
again when notified by Cal-OSHA that an insured employer has been
identified as a targeted employer pursuant to Section 6314.1, the
insurer shall provide each insured employer with a written
description of the consultation services together with a notice that
the services are available at no additional charge to the employer.
These notices to the employer shall appear in at least 10-point bold
type.
(c) The insurer shall not charge any fee in addition to the
insurance premium for safety and health loss control consultation
services.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require insurers
to provide loss control services to places of employment that do not
pose significant preventable hazards to workers.
(e) The director shall establish an insurance loss control
services coordinator position in the Department of Industrial
Relations. The coordinator shall provide information to employers
about the availability of loss control consultation services and
respond to employers' questions and complaints about loss control
consultation services provided by their insurer. The coordinator
shall notify the insurer of every complaint concerning loss control
consultation services. If the employer and the insurer are unable to
agree on a mutually satisfactory solution to the complaint, the
coordinator shall investigate the complaint. Whenever the coordinator
determines that the loss control consultation services provided by
the insurer are inadequate or inappropriate, he or she shall
recommend to the employer and the insurer the actions required to
bring the loss control program into compliance. If the employer and
the insurer are unable to agree on a mutually satisfactory solution
to the complaint, the coordinator shall forward his or her
recommendations to the director. The cost of providing the
coordinator services shall be paid out of the Workers' Occupational
Safety and Health Education Fund created by subdivision (a) of
Section 6354.7. However, no more than 20 percent of that fund may be
expended for this purpose each year.
6354.7. (a) The Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education
Fund is hereby created as a special account in the State Treasury.
Proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers'
Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program and
insurance loss control services coordinator. The director shall levy
and collect fees to fund these purposes from insurers subject to
Section 6354.5. However, the fee assessed against any insurer shall
not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars ($100) or 0.0286
percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity claims as reported
for the previous calendar year to the designated rating organization
for the analysis required under subdivision (b) of Section 11759.1 of
the Insurance Code. All fees shall be deposited in the fund.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a worker safety
and health training and education program. The purpose of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program shall
be 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.
(c) The commission shall establish an employer and worker advisory
board for the program. The advisory board shall guide the
development of curricula, teaching methods, and specific course
material about occupational safety and health, and shall assist in
providing links to the target audience and broadening the
partnerships with worker-based organizations, labor studies programs,
and others that are able to reach the target audience.
(d) The program shall include the development and provision of a
needed core curriculum addressing competencies for effective
participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs and
on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core
curriculum shall include an overview of the requirements related to
injury and illness prevention programs and hazard communication.
(e) The program shall include the development and provision of
additional training programs for any or all of the following
categories:
(1) Industries on the high hazard list.
(2) Hazards that result in significant worker injuries, illnesses,
or compensation costs.
(3) Industries or trades where workers are experiencing numerous
or significant injuries or illnesses.
(4) Occupational groups 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. Priority shall be given to training
workers who are able to train other workers and workers who have
significant health and safety responsibilities, such as those workers
serving on a health and safety committee or serving as designated
safety representatives.
(f) The program shall operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, which shall include, but not be limited to, all material
developed by the program pursuant to this section.
(g) The advisory board shall annually prepare a written report
evaluating the use and impact of programs developed.
(h) The payment of administrative costs incurred by the commission
in conducting the program shall be made from the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund.
6354.7. (a) The Workers' Occupational Safety and Health Education
Fund is hereby created as a special account in the State Treasury.
Proceeds of the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers'
Compensation for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a worker
occupational safety and health training and education program and an
insurance loss control services coordinator. The director shall levy
and collect fees to fund these purposes from insurers subject to
Section 6354.5. However, the fee assessed against any insurer shall
not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars ($100) or 0.0286
percent of paid workers' compensation indemnity amounts for claims as
reported for the previous calendar year to the designated rating
organization for the analysis required under subdivisions (b) and (c)
of Section 11759.1 of the Insurance Code. All fees shall be
deposited in the fund.
(b) The commission shall establish and maintain a worker safety
and health training and education program. The purpose of the worker
occupational safety and health training and education program shall
be 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.
(c) The commission shall establish an employer and worker advisory
board for the program. The advisory board shall guide the
development of curricula, teaching methods, and specific course
material about occupational safety and health, and shall assist in
providing links to the target audience and broadening the
partnerships with worker-based organizations, labor studies programs,
and others that are able to reach the target audience.
(d) The program shall include the development and provision of a
needed core curriculum addressing competencies for effective
participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs and
on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core
curriculum shall include an overview of the requirements related to
injury and illness prevention programs and hazard communication.
(e) The program shall include the development and provision of
additional training programs for any or all of the following
categories:
(1) Industries on the high hazard list.
(2) Hazards that result in significant worker injuries, illnesses,
or compensation costs.
(3) Industries or trades in which workers are experiencing
numerous or significant injuries or illnesses.
(4) Occupational groups 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. Priority shall be given to training
workers who are able to train other workers and workers who have
significant health and safety responsibilities, such as those workers
serving on a health and safety committee or serving as designated
safety representatives.
(f) The program shall operate one or more libraries and
distribution systems of occupational safety and health training
material, which shall include, but not be limited to, all material
developed by the program pursuant to this section.
(g) The advisory board shall annually prepare a written report
evaluating the use and impact of programs developed.
(h) The payment of administrative costs incurred by the commission
in conducting the program shall be made from the Workers'
Occupational Safety and Health Education Fund.
6355. If the employer requests or accepts consulting services
offered pursuant to Section 6354, the division in providing such
services at the employer's employment or place of employment shall
neither institute any prosecution under Section 6423 nor issue any
citations for a violation of any standard or order adopted pursuant
to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 140) of Division 1. In any
instance in which the division representative providing the
consulting service finds that the conditions of employment, place of
employment, any work procedure, or the operation of any machine,
device, apparatus, or equipment constitutes an imminent hazard or
danger, within the meaning of Section 6325, to the lives, safety, or
health of employees, entry therein, or the use thereof, as the case
may be, shall be prohibited by the division pursuant to Section 6325.
The employer shall not, however, be liable to prosecution under
Section 6423, nor shall the division issue any citations or assess
any civil penalties, except in any case where the employer fails to
comply with the division's prohibition of entry or use, or in any
case where the provisions of Section 6326 apply.
6356. (a) There is hereby created, in the General Fund, the Worker
Safety Bilingual Investigative Support, Enforcement, and Training
Account. The moneys in the account may be expended by the department,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this
part.
(b) The department may receive and accept a contribution of funds
from an individual or private organization, including the proceeds
from a judgment in a state or federal court, if the contribution is
made to carry out the purposes of this part. The department shall
immediately deposit the contribution in the account established by
subdivision (a).
(c) The department may not receive or accept a contribution of
funds under this section made from the proceeds of a judgment in a
criminal action filed pursuant to Section 6423 or 6425 of the Labor
Code.
6357. On or before January 1, 1995, the Occupational Safety and
Health Standards Board shall adopt standards for ergonomics in the
workplace designed to minimize the instances of injury from
repetitive motion.
6359. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Every year 70 adolescents die from work injuries in the United
States and 200,000 are injured, 70,000 seriously enough to require
hospital treatment. Most of these injuries are preventable.
(2) A recent report by the Institute of Medicine and the National
Research Council has brought national attention to the need for
better education and interventions to aid injury and illness
prevention efforts aimed at young workers.
(3) Since 1996, the California Study Group on Young Workers'
Health and Safety, consisting of 30 representatives from key agencies
and organizations involved with California youth employment and
education issues, including representatives from government agencies,
business, labor, parent and teacher organizations, and others, has
met to develop recommendations to better protect and educate
California's young workers.
(4) The study group recommended the establishment of a Resource
Network on Young Workers' Health and Safety, to assist in increasing
the ability of young workers and their communities to identify and
address workplace hazards in order to prevent young workers from
becoming injured or ill on the job.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Industrial Relations, the University of California, the State
Department of Education, the State Department of Health Services, and
the Employment Development Department cooperatively and individually
conduct activities aimed at the prevention of occupational injuries
and illnesses among young workers.
(c) The Department of Industrial Relations shall contract with a
coordinator to establish a statewide young worker health and safety
resource network. The primary function of the resource network shall
be to assist in increasing the ability of young workers and their
communities statewide to identify and address workplace hazards in
order to prevent young workers from becoming injured or ill on the
job. The network shall coordinate and augment existing outreach and
education efforts and provide technical assistance, education
materials and other support to schools, job training programs,
employers and other organizations working to educate students and
their communities about workplace health and safety and child labor
laws.
(d) The resource network shall provide, and the lead center shall
coordinate, services to all key groups throughout the state involved
in education and protecting young workers, including, but not limited
to:
(1) Teachers.
(2) Schools.
(3) Job training programs.
(4) Employers of youth.
(5) Parent groups.
(6) Youth organizations.
(7) Work permit issuers.
(e) The resource network shall be advised by a statewide advisory
group, including, but not limited to, representatives from the
Department of Industrial Relations, the Commission on Health and
Safety and Worker's Compensation, the University of California, the
State Department of Education, the Department of Health Services, and
the Employment Development Department, as well as business, labor,
parents, and others experienced in working with youth doing
agricultural and nonagricultural work. The advisory group shall
represent diverse geographic regions of the state.
(f) This section shall be implemented subject to the availability
of funding for the purposes of this section in the 2000-01 Budget
Act.
