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79R6160 PB-D
By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1312
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 commission 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 Health and Safety Act
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 667). Standards adopted by the commission
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 COMMISSION AND
DIVISION. (a) The commission 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
commission 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 Act.
(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 commission 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
commission 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. 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 company, mutual company, reciprocal or
interinsurance exchange, and Lloyd's association 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 Texas Department of Insurance under Subchapter D, Chapter 5,
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 Texas
Department of Insurance 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 Texas Department of Insurance shall remit all funds
received under this section to the comptroller of public accounts
for deposit in the state treasury to the credit of the general
revenue fund.
Sec. 411.156. EMPLOYER DUTIES. (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 shall report to the division in the manner
prescribed by the rules of the commission information relating to
personal injuries, fatalities, accidents, and other occupational
health and safety issues related to the employer's place of
business. The employer shall report on forms prescribed by and
covering time periods designated by the commission.
SECTION 2. Section 502.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (4-a) and by amending Subdivision (8)
to read as follows:
(4-a) "Commission" means the Texas Workers'
Compensation Commission.
(8) "Division" means the division of workers' health
and safety of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission
["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 BY COMMISSION; REFERENCES.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, this
chapter is administered by the commission.
(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 commission or the
division, or a successor agency to the commission or division, as
appropriate.
SECTION 4. Section 411.018, Labor Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. Except as provided by Section 6 of this Act, the
Texas Workers' Compensation Commission shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement Subchapter I, Chapter 411, Labor Code, as
added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2006, and shall
implement the state occupational health and safety plan not later
than September 1, 2006.
SECTION 6. If an act of the 79th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2005, transfers the powers and duties of the Texas
Workers' Compensation Commission to another state agency, the
powers and duties assigned to the Texas Workers' Compensation
Commission under Subchapter I, Chapter 411, Labor Code, as added by
this Act, are transferred to the state agency responsible for
employee health and safety programs, and the governing body of that
state agency shall adopt rules as required by that subchapter not
later than January 1, 2006, and shall implement the state
occupational health and safety plan not later than September 1,
2006.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.