H. B. 2327
(By Delegates Staton and Mahan)
[Introduced
February 19, 2001
; referred to the
Committee on 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 the 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 a list of substances and
materials and 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 the 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 the list
prepared under this section available to any employer requesting
the same: Provided, That the commissioner shall limit such the
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 the
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 the
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 the
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
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 the
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 do 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.