Bill Text: TX SB671 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a state occupational health and safety plan; establishing a maintenance tax.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-23 - Referred to State Affairs [SB671 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB671-Introduced.html
82R2375 JSC-D | ||
By: Gallegos | S.B. No. 671 |
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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 [ |
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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. |