Bill Text: TX SB671 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a state occupational health and safety plan; establishing a maintenance tax.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-23 - Referred to State Affairs [SB671 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB671-Introduced.html

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82R2375 JSC-D
By: Gallegos S.B. No. 671

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a state occupational health and safety
plan; establishing a maintenance tax.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 411, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. STATE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PLAN
Sec. 411.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Employee" means an individual employed by an
employer.
(2) "Employer" means a person that employs one or more
individuals. The term does not include the state, a political
subdivision of the state, or another governmental entity in this
state.
Sec. 411.152. STATE PLAN. The commissioner shall develop a
state plan relating to state enforcement of occupational health and
safety standards. The state plan must comply with federal approval
requirements under Section 18, Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. Section 667). Standards adopted by the
commissioner under the state plan may not be more stringent than the
standards adopted by the United States Department of Labor.
Sec. 411.153. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER AND
DIVISION. (a) The department, through the division, is the state
agency generally charged with implementation and enforcement of
state laws and administrative rules relating to the protection of
the life, health, and safety of persons at their places of
employment. The division may obtain information from any
appropriate source, including employers, that relates to
occupational health and safety issues.
(b) The division may conduct inspections of places of
employment at reasonable times as necessary to implement this
subchapter.
(c) The division shall:
(1) gather, maintain, and publish statistical
information relating to occupational health and safety programs
operated by other states in order to obtain data for an ongoing
comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs
operated in this state;
(2) design and conduct research relating to the
prevention of job-related injuries and occupational disease;
(3) publish the results of its research;
(4) consult with employers regarding compliance with
state or federal occupational safety laws, rules, or agreements;
(5) develop programs designed to reduce job-related
injuries and occupational disease for use by employers, employees,
and other interested parties; and
(6) collect information relating to occupational
safety as required by state or federal laws, rules, or agreements.
(d) The commissioner may adopt rules and prescribe forms as
necessary to implement this subchapter.
(e) The division may charge fees for its publications and
for seminars and training programs offered by the division. The
commissioner shall set the fees in amounts reasonable and necessary
to cover administrative costs.
Sec. 411.154. EMPLOYER CLASSIFICATIONS; CONSULTATIONS.
(a) The division shall collect and compile information relating to
the job-related accident experience of each employer, including:
(1) the frequency of accidents;
(2) the existence and implementation of private safety
programs by the employer;
(3) man-hour losses due to employee injuries; and
(4) other factors considered relevant by the division.
(b) Based on the compiled information, the division shall:
(1) classify employers as necessary and appropriate to
assist employers in providing safe and healthful conditions of
employment; and
(2) identify hazardous occupations.
(c) On the written request of an employer, the division may
consult with and advise the employer or the employer's
representative regarding the improvement of the employer's
accident frequency rate and the elimination or reduction of
impediments to occupational health and safety at the employer's
place of business.
Sec. 411.155. TASK FORCE ON CERTAIN HIGH-RISK WORKSITES.
(a) The commissioner shall establish within the division a task
force to inspect high-risk worksites at facilities primarily
engaged in the manufacture or distribution of products or
materials:
(1) identified as known or probable carcinogens; or
(2) with known or recognizable flammable or explosive
properties.
(b) The task force shall inspect facilities described by
Subsection (a) as necessary to determine that the facilities:
(1) comply with process safety standards;
(2) conform to established safety standards in the
applicable industry; and
(3) operate within all guidelines, rules, and
regulations established by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and any
other state or federal agency involved in the monitoring or
regulation of environmental standards.
(c) The task force shall oversee monitoring programs
established to require facilities described by Subsection (a) to be
inspected with proper detection devices for any leaks of materials
described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2).
Sec. 411.156. FUNDING; MAINTENANCE TAX. (a) The
occupational health and safety plan adopted under this subchapter
is funded through the assessment of an annual maintenance tax
collected from each stock insurance company, mutual insurance
company, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, and Lloyd's plan
that writes workers' compensation insurance in this state. The
commissioner of insurance shall set the rate of the maintenance tax
in an amount not to exceed one percent of the correctly reported
gross workers' compensation insurance premiums of those insurers as
reported to the department under Subtitle E, Title 10, Insurance
Code. The commissioner of insurance shall set the rate of
assessment each year to produce the amount of funds that the
commissioner estimates will be necessary to operate the
occupational health and safety plan. The tax assessed under this
section is in addition to all other taxes imposed on those insurers
for workers' compensation purposes and shall be paid to the
department at the same time that the insurers pay the maintenance
tax imposed under Chapter 255, Insurance Code.
(b) The commissioner of insurance may adopt rules as
necessary relating to the assessment and collection of the
maintenance tax imposed under Subsection (a).
(c) The department shall remit all funds received under this
section to the comptroller for deposit in the state treasury to the
credit of the general revenue fund.
Sec. 411.157. DUTIES OF EMPLOYER AND WORKSITE OWNER. (a)
Each employer shall furnish and maintain a safe and healthful
employee work environment. The employer shall install, maintain,
and use those methods, processes, devices, and safeguards as are
necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees.
(b) Each employer and worksite owner shall report to the
division in the manner prescribed by the rules of the commissioner
information relating to personal injuries, fatalities, accidents,
and other occupational health and safety issues related to the
employer's place of business or the worksite, as applicable. The
employer and worksite owner shall report on forms prescribed by and
covering time periods designated by the commissioner.
SECTION 2. Section 502.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (4-a) and amending Subdivision (8) to
read as follows:
(4-a) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of
workers' compensation.
(8) "Division" means the division of workers'
compensation of the Texas Department of Insurance ["Director" means
the director of the Texas Department of Health].
SECTION 3. Chapter 502, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 502.0035 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.0035. ADMINISTRATION; REFERENCES. (a)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, this chapter
is administered by the commissioner.
(b) A reference in this chapter to the Texas Board of
Health, the Texas Department of Health, a successor agency to that
board or department, or to the director means the commissioner or
the division, or a successor officer or agency to the commissioner
or division, as appropriate.
SECTION 4. Section 411.018, Labor Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. The commissioner of workers' compensation shall
adopt rules as necessary to implement Subchapter I, Chapter 411,
Labor Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2012,
and shall implement the state occupational health and safety plan
not later than September 1, 2012.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.