H. B. 4034
(By Delegates Staton and Mahan)
[Introduced January 13, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section eighteen, article three,
chapter twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
hazardous chemical substances; and notice to employees of
hazardous chemical substances and lead exposure.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eighteen, article three, chapter twenty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. SAFETY AND WELFARE OF EMPLOYEES.
§21-3-18. Hazardous chemical substances; notice to employees;
notice to employees of lead exposure; reports to
commissioner; penalties.
(a) It is declared the policy of this state to require
employers to disclose to employees the hazards of exposure in the work place to hazardous or toxic chemical substances and
materials. For this purpose, the commissioner of labor shall
adopt the list of toxic and hazardous substances found in 29 Code
of Federal Regulations 1910.1000, Subpart Z, revised as of the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, as
amended, and shall establish and maintain, by rule, or regulation
a list of chemical substances and materials which have been
determined or are suspected to be hazardous or toxic to the
health of employees in the state who may be exposed to them in
the course of employment. In establishing and maintaining such
list, the commissioner may give consideration to any list made or
hereafter made by the secretary of labor of the United States
identifying or proposing to identify chemical substances and
materials as hazardous or toxic, or setting standard levels of
safe exposure thereto, as the same are published from time to
time in the federal register. In addition, with regard to
employee exposure to lead, the commissioner shall compile
information regarding the reasonable and necessary steps required
to minimize employee exposure to lead under various levels of
exposure. The commissioner shall publish and update, at least
annually, such list of substances and materials and such
information regarding lead exposure and shall include in the
publication thereof, for each listed substance or material, any
standard levels of safe exposure published by said secretary in the federal register, giving due consideration to any changes
made or proposed by said secretary in the secretary's list of
hazardous or toxic chemical substances and materials, or in any
standard levels of safe exposure established or proposed from
time to time by said secretary, as the same are published in the
federal register. The commissioner shall provide a copy of such
updated list and lead exposure information to the joint committee
on government and finance by the first day of December each year.
(b) The commissioner shall make copies of such list prepared
under this section available to any employer requesting the same:
Provided, That the commissioner shall limit such list to no more
than six hundred such substances and materials to be selected
from the lists included in 29 Code of Federal Regulations
1910.1000, Subpart Z, which the commissioner elects to include
because of either frequency of use in the state, frequency of
exposure or over exposure thereof to workers in the state, the
seriousness of the effects of such exposure or other reason which
the commissioner determines to be sufficient.
(c) Any employer of ten or more employees using or producing
any such listed hazardous chemical substance or material shall
conspicuously post a warning notice in the work area where any
such substance or material is used, to read substantially as
follows:
WARNING NOTICE
...............................................................
(Name of hazardous chemical substance or material) is used
at this work site.
Common symptoms of overexposure include the following:
....................
Name of Employer
Any such notice required to be posted with regard to a
mobile work site may be posted on the container or containers of
the hazardous substance or material or in some other conspicuous
place.
The employer shall include in the notice such common
symptoms of overexposure as: (1) May be published with the
standard levels of safe exposure; or (2) certified to the
employer by a physician employed for that purpose. Good faith
reliance upon either such source of information shall be
sufficient notice of such common symptoms.
(d) Any employer whose employees may come in contact with
lead as defined in section three, article thirty-five, chapter
sixteen of this code, shall reasonably investigate the
possibility of lead exposure to employees. Upon a determination
of the presence of lead, the employer shall take all reasonable
and necessary steps to minimize exposure to employees, and the
employer shall conspicuously post a warning notice in the work
area where any lead exposure may occur, to read substantially as follows:
WARNING NOTICE
...............................................................
Lead has been detected at this work site. There is a
possibility of lead exposure at this work site and all reasonable
and necessary steps must be followed to minimize employee
exposure including the following:
...............,
Name of Employer
The commissioner of labor shall provide, at the request of
the employer, the reasonable and necessary steps to minimize
worker exposure to lead for inclusion on the warning notice
above. Any such notice required to be posted with regard to a
mobile work site may be posted in a conspicuous place where
exposure is possible.
The employer shall comply with all requirements of the
commissioner and the provisions of article thirty-five, chapter
sixteen of this code regarding any known lead hazard.
(d)(e) Any employer having notice of any incident of
exposure to a listed hazardous chemical substance or material in
excess of its standard level of safe exposure published by the
commissioner shall within ten days thereof report to the
commissioner the circumstances of such incident and provide a
copy of the report to the employee.
(e)(f) Any person or corporation that violates the
provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each violation.
(f)(g) The provisions of this section shall not apply to
any coal mine, coal mining or coal processing plant, and any
agricultural or horticultural activity, and any such mine, plant
or activity is hereby exempted from the provisions of this
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that notice be
provided to employees regarding certain hazardous chemical
substances and lead exposure.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.