FISCAL NOTE

Date Requested: February 20, 2015
Time Requested: 02:59 PM
Agency: Corrections
CBD Number: Version: Bill Number: Resolution Number:
1936 Introduced HB2869
CBD Subject: Labor


FUND(S):



Sources of Revenue:

General Fund

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund



Fiscal Note Summary


Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.


The West Virginia Division of Corrections (WV DOC) currently does not have any of the Correctional or Work Release Centers that are in compliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). The WV DOC has always been exempt from the OSHA requirements. It would cause an extreme hardship for the WV DOC to become fully compliant under OSHA regulations not only financially but also with the enormous amount of time that would have to be invested to accomplish this. There are thousands of OSHA regulations with each having many subparts attached that would be required for WV DOC employees to be trained and become competent with. One of the main requirements of OSHA is to initially train and continue to be train and refresh employees on the regulations. The time required during this initial training alone will take years to accomplish and large amounts of monetary funds would have to be set aside in salary and overtime to pay for the hours of this additional training. The Division has over two thousand (2,000) employees and all would have to be trained on these regulations. Each WV DOC facility would have to establish at least one (1) full time position dedicated to enforcing the regulations, conducting training, and making sure the facility stays within compliance. Some of the larger facilities could foreseeably need more than one position to be dedicated to these duties. In addition to the staff, there would have to be a larger number of inmates that would have to take the training and become familiar with the OSHA regulations. The WV DOC currently has over five thousand eight hundred (5,800) inmates housed at their facilities. A large number of inmates at each of the facilities perform work that is within the OSHA regulations and requirements. The inmate turnover rate is also large and because of that, it would almost be impossible to make the inmates that work become OSHA compliant. At this time, the WV DOC does not have any idea of what the cost or required time would be to become fully OSHA compliant throughout the Division. The only estimate the WV DOC can give is that the cost would be in the millions and the time would be over several years.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2015
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2016
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 0 0
Personal Services 0 0 0
Current Expenses 0 0 0
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 0 0


Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):






Memorandum


The West Virginia Division of Corrections (WV DOC) currently does not have any of the Correctional or Work Release Centers that are in compliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). The WV DOC has always been exempt from the OSHA requirements. It would cause an extreme hardship for the WV DOC to become fully compliant under OSHA regulations not only financially but also with the enormous amount of time that would have to be invested to accomplish this. There are thousands of OSHA regulations with each having many subparts attached that would be required for WV DOC employees to be trained and become competent with. One of the main requirements of OSHA is to initially train and continue to be train and refresh employees on the regulations. The time required during this initial training alone will take years to accomplish and large amounts of monetary funds would have to be set aside in salary and overtime to pay for the hours of this additional training. The Division has over two thousand (2,000) employees and all would have to be trained on these regulations. Each WV DOC facility would have to establish at least one (1) full time position dedicated to enforcing the regulations, conducting training, and making sure the facility stays within compliance. Some of the larger facilities could foreseeably need more than one position to be dedicated to these duties. In addition to the staff, there would have to be a larger number of inmates that would have to take the training and become familiar with the OSHA regulations. The WV DOC currently has over five thousand eight hundred (5,800) inmates housed at their facilities. A large number of inmates at each of the facilities perform work that is within the OSHA regulations and requirements. The inmate turnover rate is also large and because of that, it would almost be impossible to make the inmates that work become OSHA compliant. At this time, the WV DOC does not have any idea of what the cost or required time would be to become fully OSHA compliant throughout the Division. The only estimate the WV DOC can give is that the cost would be in the millions and the time would be over several years.



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Loita Butcher
    Email Address: Loita.c.butcher@wv.gov