H. B. 2797
(By Delegates Caputo, Mahan, Collins,
Sparks, Kuhn, Staton and Varner)
[Introduced February 17, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article one, chapter twenty-two-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirty-nine, relating to notice of hazardous chemical
substances and lead exposure to employees of mine operators;
director of miners' health, safety and training to adopt
list of hazardous substances by rule; director to compile
safety information regarding hazardous substances; and
penalty for violation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter twenty-two-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated thirty-nine,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. OFFICE OF MINERS' HEALTH, SAFETY AND TRAINING; ADMINISTRATION; ENFORCEMENT.
§22A-1-39. Hazardous chemical substances; notice to employees;
notice to employees of lead exposure; reports to director; penalties.
(a) It is declared the policy of this state to require mine
operators (hereinafter employers) subject to the provisions of
this chapter to disclose to employees the hazards of exposure in
the work place to hazardous or toxic chemical substances and
materials. For this purpose, the director of the office of
miners' health, safety and training shall adopt the list of toxic
and hazardous substances found in 29 Code of Federal Regulations
1910.1000, Subpart Z, revised as of the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, as amended, and shall
maintain, by rule a list of chemical substances and materials
which have been determined or are suspected to be hazardous or
toxic to the health of employees who may be exposed to them in
the course of employment. In establishing and maintaining such
list, the director may give consideration to any list made or
hereafter made by the secretary of labor of the United States
identifying or proposing to identify chemical substances and
materials as hazardous or toxic, or setting standard levels of
safe exposure thereto, as the same are published from time to
time in the federal register. In addition, with regard to employee exposure to lead, the director shall compile information
regarding the reasonable and necessary steps required to minimize
employee exposure to lead under various levels of exposure. The
director shall publish and update, at least annually, such list
of substances and materials and such information regarding lead
exposure and shall include in the publication thereof, for each
listed substance or material, any standard levels of safe
exposure published by said secretary in the federal register,
giving due consideration to any changes made or proposed by the
secretary in the secretary's list of hazardous or toxic chemical
substances and materials, or in any standard levels of safe
exposure established or proposed from time to time by said
secretary, as the same are published in the federal register. The
director shall provide a copy of such updated list and lead
exposure information to the joint committee on government and
finance by the first day of December each year.
(b) The director shall make copies of such list prepared
under this section available to any employer requesting the same:
Provided, That the director shall limit such list to no more than
six hundred such substances and materials to be selected from the
lists included in 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.1000,
Subpart Z, which the director elects to include because of either
frequency of use in the state, frequency of exposure or over
exposure thereof to workers in the state, the seriousness of the effects of such exposure or other reason which the director
determines to be sufficient.
(c) Any employer of ten or more employees using or producing
any such listed hazardous chemical substance or material shall
conspicuously post a warning notice in the work area where any
such substance or material is used, to read substantially as
follows:
WARNING NOTICE
............................................................... (Name of hazardous chemical substance or material) is used
at this work site.
Common symptoms of overexposure include the following:
....................
Name of Employer
Any such notice required to be posted with regard to a
mobile work site may be posted on the container or containers of
the hazardous substance or material or in some other conspicuous
place.
The employer shall include in the notice such common
symptoms of overexposure as: (1) May be published with the
standard levels of safe exposure; or (2) certified to the
employer by a physician employed for that purpose. Good faith
reliance upon either such source of information shall be
sufficient notice of such common symptoms.
(d) Any employer whose employees may come in contact with
lead as defined in section three, article thirty-five, chapter
sixteen of this code, shall reasonably investigate the
possibility of lead exposure to employees. Upon a determination
of the presence of lead, the employer shall take all reasonable
and necessary steps to minimize exposure to employees, and the
employer shall conspicuously post a warning notice in the work
area where any lead exposure may occur, to read substantially as
follows:
WARNING NOTICE
...............................................................
Lead has been detected at this work site. There is a
possibility of lead exposure at this work site and all reasonable
and necessary steps must be followed to minimize employee
exposure including the following:
....................
Name of Employer
The director of the office of miners' health, safety and
training shall provide, at the request of the employer, the
reasonable and necessary steps to minimize worker exposure to
lead for inclusion on the warning notice above.
Any such notice
required to be posted with regard to a mobile work site may be
posted in a conspicuous place where exposure is possible.
The employer shall comply with all requirements of the director and the provisions of article thirty-five, chapter
sixteen of this code regarding any known lead hazard.
(e) Any employer having notice of any incident of exposure
to a listed hazardous chemical substance or material in excess of
its standard level of safe exposure published by the director
shall within ten days thereof report to the director the
circumstances of such incident and provide a copy of the report
to the employee.
(f) Any person or corporation that violates the provisions
of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor
more than one thousand dollars for each violation.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require mine operators
to provide
notice of hazardous chemical substances and lead
exposure to its employees.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.