H. B. 2336
(By Delegates Caputo, Wright, Kuhn,
Mahan, Varner and Staton)
[Introduced February 20, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small
Business then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article one, chapter twenty-two-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty, relating to notice of hazardous chemical substances and
lead exposure to employees of mine operators; requiring
director of miners' health, safety and training to adopt list
of hazardous substances by rule and to compile safety
information regarding hazardous substances; and providing a
criminal penalty for violation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter twenty-two-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. OFFICE OF MINERS' HEALTH, SAFETY AND TRAINING;
ADMINISTRATION; ENFORCEMENT.
§22A-1-40. Hazardous chemical substances; notice to employees;
notice to employees of lead exposure; reports to
director; penalties.
(a) It is declared the policy of this state to require mine
operators (hereinafter employers) subject to the provisions of this
chapter to disclose to employees the hazards of exposure in the
work place to hazardous or toxic chemical substances and materials.
For this purpose, the director of the office of miners' health,
safety and training shall adopt the list of toxic and hazardous
substances found in 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.1000,
1910.1001, 1910.1020, 1910.1025, 1910.1200 and 1910.1201, Subpart
Z, revised as of the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, as amended, and shall also maintain, by rule a list
of chemical substances and materials which have been determined or
are suspected to be hazardous or toxic to the health of employees
who may be exposed to them in the course of employment. In
establishing and maintaining this list, the director 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. The director shall
publish and update, at least annually, the 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 the secretary in
the federal register, giving due consideration to any changes made
or proposed by the 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 the secretary, as the same are published in the federal
register. The director 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) Any employer of ten or more employees using or producing
any 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 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 those common symptoms
of overexposure that: (1) Are published with the standard levels
of safe exposure; or (2) are certified to the employer by a
physician employed for that purpose. Good faith reliance upon the
source of information will be sufficient notice of the common
symptoms.
(c) Any employer whose employees may come in contact with lead
as defined in 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.1025, Subpart Z,
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 director of the office of miners' health, safety and
training 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 must comply with all requirements of the director
and the provisions of 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.1025,
Subpart Z regarding any known lead hazard.
(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 director shall
within ten days thereof report to the director the circumstances of
the incident and provide a copy of the report to the employee.
(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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require mine operators
to provide notice of hazardous chemical substances and lead
exposure to its employees.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.