By Ritter H.B. No. 2514
76R6987 PB-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain workers' compensation programs conducted to
1-3 increase worker safety.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 ARTICLE 1. HAZARDOUS EMPLOYER PROGRAM
1-6 SECTION 1.01. The subchapter heading to Subchapter D, Chapter
1-7 411, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 SUBCHAPTER D. HAZARDOUS [EXTRA-HAZARDOUS] EMPLOYER PROGRAM
1-9 SECTION 1.02. Section 411.041, Labor Code, is amended to read
1-10 as follows:
1-11 Sec. 411.041. APPLICATION; IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS
1-12 [EXTRA-HAZARDOUS] EMPLOYER. (a) This subchapter applies as
1-13 follows:
1-14 (1) Sections 411.043, 411.044, 411.045, 411.046,
1-15 411.047, and 411.048 apply only to an employer that is a political
1-16 subdivision subject to Chapter 504; and
1-17 (2) the remaining sections of this subchapter apply to
1-18 all employers.
1-19 (b) The division shall develop a program to identify
1-20 hazardous [extra-hazardous] employers. The program must include
1-21 analysis of injury frequency.
1-22 (c) [(b)] Except as provided by Section 411.0415, an
1-23 employer whose injury frequencies substantially exceed those that
1-24 may reasonably be expected in that employer's business or industry
2-1 is a hazardous [an extra-hazardous] employer.
2-2 SECTION 1.03. Sections 411.0415(a) and (c), Labor Code, are
2-3 amended to read as follows:
2-4 (a) The executive director may exclude from identification
2-5 as a hazardous [an extra-hazardous] employer an employer who
2-6 presents evidence satisfactory to the commission that the injury
2-7 frequencies of the employer substantially exceed those that may
2-8 reasonably be expected in that employer's business or industry only
2-9 because of a fatality that:
2-10 (1) occurred because of factors beyond the employer's
2-11 control; or
2-12 (2) was outside the course and scope of the deceased
2-13 individual's employment.
2-14 (c) If the commission determines that the case history of
2-15 the employee's fatality indicates that the employer or the work
2-16 environment was a proximate cause of the fatality, the commission
2-17 may request a hearing under Section 411.049. If the hearing
2-18 establishes that a proximate cause of the fatality was a factor or
2-19 factors within the employer's control and was within the course and
2-20 scope of the employment, the commission may identify [require] the
2-21 employer for [to participate in] the hazardous [extra-hazardous]
2-22 employers program if that fatality causes the employer to be
2-23 designated as a hazardous [an extra-hazardous] employer.
2-24 SECTION 1.04. Section 411.042, Labor Code, is amended to read
2-25 as follows:
2-26 Sec. 411.042. NOTIFICATION TO HAZARDOUS [EXTRA-HAZARDOUS]
2-27 EMPLOYER AND INSURANCE CARRIER. (a) The division shall notify
3-1 each employer identified as a hazardous [an extra-hazardous]
3-2 employer and the insurance carrier for that employer that the
3-3 employer has been identified as a hazardous [an extra-hazardous]
3-4 employer.
3-5 (b) The commission by rule shall require a minimum interval
3-6 of at least six months before a subsequent audit to identify an
3-7 employer as a hazardous employer.
3-8 SECTION 1.05. Section 411.048, Labor Code, is amended to
3-9 read as follows:
3-10 Sec. 411.048. COSTS CHARGED TO EMPLOYER. (a) The
3-11 commission shall charge an [the] employer that is a political
3-12 subdivision for reimbursement of the reasonable cost of services
3-13 provided by the division, including a reasonable allocation of the
3-14 commission's administrative costs, in formulating and monitoring
3-15 the implementation of a plan under Section 411.043 or 411.047,
3-16 investigating an accident under Section 411.044, or in conducting a
3-17 follow-up inspection under Section 411.045.
3-18 (b) The commission shall charge a private employer for
3-19 reimbursement of the reasonable cost of services provided by the
3-20 division, including a reasonable allocation of the commission's
3-21 administrative costs, in providing safety and health services under
3-22 this program at the request of the private employer. This
3-23 subsection does not apply to services provided to the employer
3-24 under Section 411.018.
3-25 SECTION 1.06. Section 411.050, Labor Code, is amended to
3-26 read as follows:
3-27 Sec. 411.050. ADMISSIBILITY OF IDENTIFICATION AS HAZARDOUS
4-1 [EXTRA-HAZARDOUS] EMPLOYER. The identification of an employer as a
4-2 hazardous [an extra-hazardous] employer under this subchapter is
4-3 not admissible in any judicial proceeding unless:
4-4 (1) the commission has determined that the employer is
4-5 not in compliance with this subchapter; and
4-6 (2) that determination has not been reversed or
4-7 superseded at the time of the event giving rise to the judicial
4-8 proceeding.
4-9 ARTICLE 2. INSURER ACCIDENT PREVENTION SERVICES
4-10 SECTION 2.01. Section 411.064, Labor Code, is amended to
4-11 read as follows:
4-12 Sec. 411.064. INSPECTIONS. (a) The division shall conduct
4-13 an inspection at least every two years to determine the adequacy of
4-14 the accident prevention services required by Section 411.061 for
4-15 each insurance company writing workers' compensation insurance in
4-16 this state.
4-17 (b) If, after an inspection under Subsection (a), an
4-18 insurance company's accident prevention services are determined to
4-19 be inadequate, the division shall reinspect the accident prevention
4-20 services of the insurance company not later than the 180th day
4-21 after the date the accident prevention services were determined by
4-22 the division to be inadequate.
4-23 (c) The insurance company shall reimburse the commission for
4-24 the reasonable cost of the reinspection, including a reasonable
4-25 allocation of the commission's administrative costs incurred in
4-26 conducting the inspections.
4-27 ARTICLE 3. TRANSITION; EFFECTIVE DATE; EMERGENCY
5-1 SECTION 3.01. Section 411.064, Labor Code, as amended by this
5-2 Act, applies only to an inspection that is conducted on or after
5-3 the effective date of this Act. An inspection conducted before
5-4 that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the
5-5 inspection was conducted, and the former law is continued in effect
5-6 for that purpose.
5-7 SECTION 3.02. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-8 SECTION 3.03. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.