Bill Text: CA SB477 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Employment: heat illness prevention.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-13 - Set, final hearing. Held in committee and under submission. [SB477 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB477-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 477 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Florez
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Section 6713 to the Labor Code, relating to
employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 477, as amended, Florez. Employment: heat illness prevention.
Existing law permits the Occupational Safety and Health Standards
Board within the Department of Industrial Relations to adopt
occupational health and safety standards to protect the welfare of
employees, and existing regulations provide for the prevention of
heat-related illness of employees, as prescribed. Under existing law,
it is a misdemeanor for an employer to violate a safety standard if
the violation has a substantial probability of resulting in death or
serious physical harm.
This bill would incorporate certain of these regulatory provisions
into statute. The bill would additionally specify requirements for
employers to provide employees access to shade when the temperature
exceeds 85 75 degrees Fahrenheit and to
implement designated high-heat and extreme-heat
procedures when the temperature equals or exceeds 85 or 95
degrees Fahrenheit , respectively . The bill would
prohibit an employer from allowing an employee or a supervisor to
engage in outdoor work without receiving training on specified topics
and would require the employer to designate a person to ensure that
emergency procedures are invoked when appropriate.
Because this bill would specify additional safety standards, the
violation of which would be a misdemeanor, it would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6713 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
6713. (a) The following definitions apply for purposes of this
section:
(1) "Acclimatization" means temporary adaptation of the body to
work in the heat that occurs gradually when a person is exposed to
it.
(2) "Environmental risk factors for heat illness" means working
conditions that create the possibility that heat illness could occur,
including air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat from the
sun and other sources, conductive heat sources such as the ground,
air movement, workload severity and duration, protective clothing,
and personal protective equipment worn by employees.
(3) "Heat illness" means a serious medical condition resulting
from the body's inability to cope with a particular heat load, and
includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and heat stroke.
(4) "Personal risk factors for heat illness" means factors such as
a person's age, degree of acclimatization, health, water
consumption, alcohol consumption, caffeine consumption, and use of
prescription medications that affect the body's water retention or
other physiological responses to heat.
(5) "Shade" means blockage of direct sunlight. One indicator that
blockage of direct sunlight is sufficient is when objects do not cast
a shadow in the area of blocked sunlight. Shade is not sufficient
when heat in the area of shade defeats the purpose of shade, which is
to allow the body to cool. Shade may be provided by any natural or
artificial means that does not expose an employee to unsafe or
unhealthy conditions. A car sitting in the sun does not provide
acceptable shade to an employee inside it, unless the car is running
with air-conditioning.
(6) "Temperature" means the dry bulb temperature in degrees
Fahrenheit obtainable by using a thermometer to measure the outdoor
temperature in an area where there is no shade. While the temperature
measurement shall be taken in an area with full sunlight, the bulb
or sensor of the thermometer shall be shielded while taking the
measurement, with the hand or some other object, from direct contact
by sunlight.
(b) An employer shall provide employees with continuous, ready
access to fresh, pure, suitably cool potable drinking water meeting
the requirements of Sections 1524, 3363, and 3457 of Title 8 of the
California Code of Regulations, as applicable. Where drinking water
is not plumbed or otherwise continuously supplied, the employer shall
provide it in sufficient quantity at the beginning of the work shift
to provide one quart per employee per hour for drinking for the
entire shift. An employer may begin the shift with smaller quantities
of water if the employer has an effective procedure for
replenishment during the shift to allow employees to drink one quart
or more per hour. The frequent drinking of water, as described in
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e), shall be
encouraged by the employer.
(c) (1) When the outdoor temperature in the work area exceeds
85 75 degrees Fahrenheit, an employer
shall have and maintain one or more areas with shade at all times
while employees are present that are either open to the air or
provided with ventilation or cooling. The amount of shade shall be
sufficient to accommodate , at minimum, 25 percent
all of the employees on the shift at any time, so that
they can sit in a normal posture fully in the shade without being in
physical contact with each other. The shaded area shall be located as
close as practicable to areas where employees are working.
(2) When the outdoor temperature in the work area does not exceed
85 75 degrees Fahrenheit, an employer
shall either provide shade as described in paragraph (1) or provide
timely access to shade upon an employee's request.
(3) An employer shall allow and encourage
require an employee to take a cool-down rest in the shade for a
period of not less than five ten
minutes at a time when an employee feels the need to do so to protect
himself or herself from overheating. The employer shall permit
access to shade pursuant to this paragraph
subdivision at all times.
(4) An employer other than an employer in the agricultural
industry may provide cooling measures in lieu of shade, such as the
use of misting machines, if the employer can demonstrate that these
measures are at least as effective as shade in allowing employees to
cool.
(d) An employer shall implement high-heat procedures when the
outdoor temperature equals or exceeds 95 85
degrees Fahrenheit. These procedures shall include , in
addition to the procedures of subdivision (c), all of the
following to the extent practicable:
(1) Ensuring that effective communication by voice, observation,
or electronic means is maintained so that employees at the worksite
can contact a supervisor when necessary. An electronic device, such
as a cell phone cellular telephone or a
text messaging device, may be used for this purpose if reception in
the area is reliable.
(2) Using a buddy system.
(3) Observing employees for alertness and signs or symptoms of
heat illness.
(4) Reminding employees throughout the work shift to drink plenty
of water.
(5) Supervising new employees closely by a supervisor or designee
for the first 14 days of the employee's employment by the employer,
unless the employee indicates at the time of hire that he or she has
been doing similar outdoor work for at least 10 of the past 30 days
for four or more hours per day.
(e) An employer shall implement extreme-heat procedures when the
outdoor temperature equals or exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit. In
addition to the procedures of subdivision (d), the employer shall
require the employees to take mandatory rest breaks after every hour
worked. The employer shall permit access to shade pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) at all times.
(e)
(f) (1) An employer shall provide training in the
following topics to all supervisory and nonsupervisory employees:
(A) The environmental and personal risk factors for heat illness,
as well as the added burden of heat load on the body caused by
exertion, clothing, and personal protective equipment.
(B) The employer's procedures for complying with the requirements
of this section.
(C) The importance of frequent consumption of small quantities of
water, up to four cups per hour, when the work environment is hot and
employees are likely to be sweating more than usual in the
performance of their duties.
(D) The importance of acclimatization.
(E) The different types of heat illness and the common signs and
symptoms of heat illness.
(F) The importance to employees of immediately reporting to the
employer, directly or through the employee's supervisor, symptoms or
signs of heat illness in themselves or in coworkers.
(G) The employer's procedures for responding to symptoms of
possible heat illness, including the procedure for providing
emergency medical services if they become necessary.
(H) The employer's procedures for contacting emergency medical
services and, if necessary, for transporting employees to a point
where they can be reached by an emergency medical service provider.
(I) The employer's procedures for ensuring that, in the event of
an emergency, clear and precise directions to the worksite will be
provided as needed to emergency responders.
(2) Prior to assigning a person to supervise employees working in
the heat, an employer shall provide training to the person on the
following topics:
(A) The information described in paragraph (1).
(B) The procedures that the supervisor is required to follow to
implement the provisions of this section.
(C) The procedures, including emergency response procedures, that
the supervisor is required to follow when an employee exhibits
symptoms consistent with possible heat illness.
(D) Procedures to monitor weather reports and the methods to
respond to hot weather advisories.
(3) An employer shall not allow an employee or a supervisor to
begin outdoor work until he or she has completed the training
required by this subdivision.
(f)
(g) An employer shall set forth the procedures
described in subparagraphs (B), (G), (H), and (I) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (e) (f) in writing and
shall make them available to its employees and to representatives of
the division upon request. The procedures described in subparagraph
(I) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) (f)
shall include designating a person to be available to ensure
that emergency procedures are invoked when appropriate. The employer
may include the procedures in its Injury and Illness Prevention
Program required by Section 3203 of Title 8 of the California Code of
Regulations or in a separate document.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
