Bill Text: CA SB735 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Motion picture productions: safety: firearms: ammunition.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2023-06-01 - Referred to Com. on L. & E. [SB735 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB735-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Motion picture productions: safety: firearms: ammunition.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2023-06-01 - Referred to Com. on L. & E. [SB735 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB735-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 735
| Introduced by Senator Cortese (Coauthors: Senators Newman and Stern) |
February 17, 2023 |
An act to add Part 13 (commencing with Section 9150) to Division 5 of the Labor Code, relating to occupational safety.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 735, as introduced, Cortese.
Motion picture productions: safety: firearms: ammunition.
Existing law grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, with the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain standards ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, as specified, and charges the division with enforcement of the act. Other existing law relating to occupational safety imposes special provisions on certain industries and charges the division with enforcement of these provisions.
This bill would require a motion picture production employer to hire a qualified safety supervisor for all motion picture productions to perform a risk assessment to be completed in advance of principal photography of a feature, an episode of a series, or a program, and to be on set daily to ensure cast and crew are not engaged in or exposed to an environment or activity that puts workers’ health and safety at risk. The bill would also require an employer to hire a qualified safety supervisor to complete a specific risk assessment to be created and, if necessary, modified, if circumstances change or there is new information that would change the risk assessment. The bill would establish requirements for risk assessments and specific risk assessments, including documentation. The bill would require production to conduct a daily safety meeting on set, including, but not limited to, a safety meeting required when firearms are involved in a scene. The bill would require a
safety supervisor to participate in the safety meetings. The bill would require an employer to identify a person to ensure compliance with the bill and would require a safety supervisor to be present every day during production.
The bill would allow the use of a firearm and blank ammunition containing gunpowder or other explosive charge on motion picture productions only for specified purposes and under specified safety conditions. The bill would require a qualified armorer, property master, or designee handling a firearm in the course of the motion picture production to have a specified state permit, to have completed certain training in firearms, and to have a specified federal document for the possession and custody of the firearm. The bill would require an employer to document and report any safety incident that occurs during a film or television production, as prescribed.
This bill would prohibit ammunition on film,
television, and commercial sets, except in prescribed circumstances, subject to certain safety rules and laws. The bill would require an employer to ensure that any employee responsible for handling, or in proximity to, firearms on set completes a specific firearm training or equivalent training, as prescribed. The bill would require an employer to comply with the bill and any applicable safety standard. The bill would establish exemptions from its provisions for specified registered security guards and peace officers when they are on the perimeter of a set where motion picture production is happening.
This bill would require the division to enforce its provisions. The bill would establish civil penalties for specified violations. The bill would define terms for its purposes.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Part 13 (commencing with Section 9150) is added to Division 5 of the Labor Code, to read:PART 13. SAFETY IN MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTIONS
9150.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:(1) All workers deserve a safe and healthy workplace. Because motion picture production sets are particularly challenging, as a result of the number and variety of potential hazards, proactive planning and oversight on the ground are key to ensuring safety.
(2) The growing popularity of a diverse array of media platforms and reality television has only increased the need to ensure safety on sets.
(3) Ensuring the overall health and safety on motion picture production sets is especially critical for the safe handling of firearms.
(4) The introduction of a mandatory safety supervisor will ensure that overall safety on sets is a priority.
(5) The primary protections for the cast and crew in a motion picture production, including when firearms are used, are found in voluntary safety standards developed by the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee for use in the motion picture and television industry.
(6) The safety standards in the firearm safety bulletins of the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee are detailed recommendations for safety with firearms and the use of blanks and ammunition.
(7) Tragic incidents like the one that occurred on the set of “Rust” are preventable, but only when the safety measures are followed by trained, experienced, certified, and
professional entertainment industry armorers hired by the employer to oversee the firearms used on a production.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this part, to raise safety standards on sets and regulate ammunition, blanks, and firearms that are capable of firing ammunition or blanks.
(c) It is not the intent of the Legislature in enacting this part to do either of the following:
(1) Adversely impact the employment or retention of craft employees responsible for handling firearms used in motion picture productions.
(2) Preclude the use of firearms, replica, simulated, or inert prop firearms or to influence content in motion picture productions.
9151.
As used in this part:(a) “Ammunition” means one or more loaded cartridges consisting of a primed case, propellant, and with one or more projectiles. “Ammunition” does not include blanks.
(b) “Blank” means an ammunition cartridge designed to be used in a firearm to, when fired, create an explosive sound, muzzle flash, or recoil, or to cycle the action of the firearm, but which does not contain a bullet or projectile that is expelled from the barrel when fired, although a paper or plastic wad may be expelled.
(c) “Division” means the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
(d) “Employer” means an employer engaged in producing a motion picture production.
(e) “Firearm” means a device, designed to expel through a barrel a projectile by the force of an explosion or other form of combustion, including the frame or receiver of the device. “Firearm” does not include a replica or simulated firearm or a special effects device.
(f) “Motion picture production” means the development, creation, presentation, or broadcasting of theatrical, televised, or streamed motion picture, television program, commercial advertisements, music videos, or any other moving images, including, but not limited to, productions made for entertainment, commercial, religious, or educational purposes, whether these productions are presented by means of film, tape, live broadcast, cable, satellite transmission, internet, or any other technology that is now in use or may be
adopted in the future.
(g) “Risk assessment” is a detailed review of a shooting script, specific event, or production plan. This risk assessment is developed during preproduction and shall cover the entire scope of the production, identifying potential risks and hazards in the workplace or to the public. This risk assessment shall include a description of the work that poses a potential risk, identify which employees are at risk, and determine the level of risk if no steps are taken.
(h) “Safety supervisor” means a person independent of the cast and crew who is not employed for any other role on the project; who reports to the unit production manager but retains autonomy when it comes to addressing risk on the ground, including, as a last resort, the authority to temporarily halt production until a thorough examination of the potential hazard and mitigation plan can take place
among the decisionmakers on set; and who meets, at a minimum, all of the following qualifications:
(1) At least five years’ experience on set in the film and television industry.
(2) Completion of a joint labor and management training on industry protocols, state and federal law, and best practices on safety or equivalent accredited training.
(3) Completion of a 30-hour training program authorized by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA-30 training).
(4) Qualified in assessing and mitigating workplace risk in the entertainment industry.
(i) “Specific risk assessment” is focused on identified high-risk activities or situations. The specific risk assessment shall
include detailed and specific risk mitigation plans to address any identified risks and hazards, spell out the precautions and controls to be taken to mitigate that risk, and reevaluate the level of risk assuming those controls are implemented. A specific risk assessment shall be performed for the use of firearms, major pyrotechnics and explosions, stunts, process moves, use of helicopters, trains, off-road vehicles, or boats, overhead rigging, rugged outdoor locations, inclement weather, atmospheric chemicals, animals, heights, intermittent traffic control, workweeks more than 60 hours, and night shoots.
9152.
(a) An employer shall hire a qualified safety supervisor for all motion picture productions to perform a risk assessment to be completed in advance of principal photography of a feature, an episode of a series, or a program, and to be on set daily to ensure cast and crew are not engaged in or exposed to an environment or activity that puts workers’ health and safety at risk.(b) An employer shall hire a qualified safety supervisor to complete a specific risk assessment to be created and, if necessary, modified, if circumstances change or there is new information that would change the risk assessment. It is not required that a specific risk assessment be complete by the start of principal photography.
(c) The safety supervisor shall make best efforts to ensure that the risk assessment and specific risk assessment, if required pursuant to subdivision (b), is detailed and accurate. The safety supervisor shall develop risk assessment and specific risk assessment documents in coordination and collaboration with the production department heads and other subject matter experts on production. The safety supervisor shall be responsible for producing final written documents, which may be updated as circumstances change or there is new information. These documents shall be readily available to cast, crew, and labor organizations.
(d) Production shall conduct a daily safety meeting on set, including, but not limited to, the meeting required in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 9153. The safety supervisor shall participate in the safety meetings.
(e) The employer shall identify a person to ensure compliance with this part. The safety supervisor shall be present every day during production.
9153.
(a) A firearm and blank ammunition containing gunpowder or other explosive charge shall only be permitted on motion picture productions, for the purposes of rehearsal, the filming of an on-camera sequence, or other development of content of the motion picture production with individuals of the cast or crew, under the following conditions:(1) Under the custody and control of a qualified armorer, property master, or designee, as specified.
(2) While handling the firearm, the armorer or the property master, if acting as armorer, is the only person who can hand that firearm to the performer or cast or crew member standing in for that performer during the scene. Only the armorer or
property master shall collect the firearm upon completion of the activity.
(3) An armorer, property master, or designee, shall have no other duties, responsibilities, or obligations during the time the armorer, property master, or designee is preparing for the use of a firearm and that a firearm is in the possession of the performer. It remains their sole responsibility until firearms are no longer in use and have been locked away.
(4) As indicated in safety bulletins of the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee, a safety meeting shall be conducted when firearms are involved in a scene.
(5) The employer shall identify a person to ensure compliance with this part.
(6) The employer has ensured sufficient staffing of qualified armorers, property
masters, or designees, as specified, reflective of the amount of firearm use in any particular scene.
(b) A qualified armorer, property master, or designee handling a firearm in the course of the motion picture production shall have all of the following:
(1) A current entertainment firearms permit or current dangerous weapons permit or license issued by the Department of Justice.
(2) A joint entertainment industry labor-management firearm safety training course certificate or equivalent recognized by the entertainment industry.
(3) One of the following:
(A) A signed rental sheet or copy of a completed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “ATF Form 4473,” stating the lawful
transfer of Title 1 Firearms to that armorer or property master, or a copy of a current Federal Firearms License (FFL) establishing the armorer or property master as the lawful possessor of the firearms who may obtain and retain custody of all firearms used in film, television, and commercial productions.
(B) In the event of the use of restricted firearms classified under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Firearms Act Division (ATF NFA) rules, and including “assault weapons,” as defined by California law, a set of current dangerous weapons permits issued by the Department of Justice, or in the absence of such permits, a clearly dated extension letter for 120 days from the Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms permitting the armorer or property master to continue their activities with restricted firearms, and a signed rental sheet from the federally licensed armory providing the firearms, or a current FFL and
current ATF Special Occupational Tax Stamp establishing lawful possession of restricted firearms by that armorer or property master must be presented for the armorer or property master to obtain and retain custody of NFA firearms. In such a case, the dangerous weapons permits issued by the Department of Justice shall supersede the entertainment firearms permit.
9154.
The employer shall document and report in accordance with this section any safety incident that occurs during a film or television production in accordance with division safety incident reporting requirements and in consultation with experts, regardless of whether the incident results in injury. The employer shall submit the report to the motion picture production safety department, the safety supervisor, and any bona fide labor organization representing workers at the production. The employer shall also notify the division of the incident and the notice shall contain the same information as would be required in an incident report in a Cal/OSHA Form 300 injury and illness log, unless the information is inapplicable or unknown to the employer.9155.
(a) Ammunition shall not be permitted on film, television, and commercial sets, except as follows:(1) In the controlled and supervised environment of a shooting range or equivalent and for the purposes of actor training or postproduction gunfire sound recording, a documentary, except reenactments, or firearms education.
(2) While filming a show, the subject matter of which is actual gunfire or where actual gunfire is essential to the subject matter of the work, such as a competitive reality show, a documentary, except dramatic reenactments, or a firearms education and safety training production.
(3) While filming
footage of trained military or police personnel firing weapons in a controlled military or police facility.
(b) In the exceptions set forth in subdivision (a), all range safety rules, federal, state, and local laws, and Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee Safety Bulletin #2 shall be followed under the supervision of the armorer, property master, or designee. A medic also shall be present.
9156.
Every employer shall ensure that any employee responsible for handling, or in proximity to, firearms on set completes the Contract Services Administration Trust Fund (CSATF) Firearms Safety Course for the Entertainment Industry, or an equivalent training. This training requirement shall be paid for by the employer and is not limited to crew or guild members.9157.
An employer shall comply with this part and any applicable safety standard.9158.
This part does not apply to the following persons when they are on the perimeter of a set where motion picture production is happening:(a) A registered security guard carrying a firearm in compliance with security guard firearms qualifications established in Sections 7583.2 to 7583.5, inclusive, of the Business and Professions Code, who is employed to provide security to the motion picture production and who, in the scope and the course of that employment, is at all times in possession and control of the firearm.
(b) A sworn peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, or sworn federal law enforcement officer, who is authorized to carry
a firearm in the course and scope of the officer’s duties and who, in the scope and the course of their duties, is at all times in possession and control of the firearm.
9159.
(a) Any employer who violates Section 9152, 9153, 9155, or 9156, and the violation is specifically determined not to be of a serious nature, shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to thirteen thousand two hundred seventy-seven dollars ($13,277) for each violation.(b) Any employer who violates Section 9153, if the division determines the violation to be a serious violation pursuant to Section 6432, shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation.
(c) Any employer who willfully or repeatedly violates Section 9153 shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to one hundred thirty-two thousand seven hundred sixty-five dollars ($132,765)
for each violation.
(d) Any employer who fails to correct a violation of Section 9153, within the period permitted for its correction, shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation for each day during which the failure or violation continues.
(e) Commencing January 1, 2023, and each January 1 thereafter, the maximum penalty amounts specified in this section shall be increased based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), not seasonally adjusted, for the month of October immediately preceding the date of the adjustment, as compared to the prior year’s October CPI-U. Any regulation issued pursuant to this section increasing penalty amounts based on the annual increase in the CPI-U shall be exempt from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except that the regulation shall be filed with the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the California Code of Regulations. Any penalty shall be calculated using the penalty amounts in effect during the calendar year in which the citation was issued.
(f) Nothing in this section shall limit, supersede, or eliminate any criminal or civil liability provided under any local, state, or federal law.
