Senate Bill No. 376

(By Senators Yost, Fitzsimmons, Kessler (Mr. President) and Wells)

____________

[Introduced January 17, 2014; referred to the Committee on Labor; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

____________

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §21-3-22, relating to requiring onsite employees at certain works construction projects to complete an Occupational Safety and Health Administration-approved ten-hour construction safety program; requiring the retention of training records; providing for incremental implementation period for mandate; providing the Commissioner of Labor to issue cease-and-desist notices; providing civil penalties for violations; providing criminal penalties for exhibiting false documents; exempting certain construction activities and persons; and requiring report from Commissioner of Department of Labor on effectiveness of safety training.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §21-3-22, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 3. SAFETY AND WELFARE OF EMPLOYEES.

§21-3-22. OSHA construction safety program.

    (a) No person or other business entity providing services as a contractor or subcontractor under a contract, entered on or after July 1, 2014, for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, remodeling or repairs at a single work site, where the total contract cost of all work to be performed by all contractors and subcontractors is $50,000 or more, shall use, employ, or assign any person to work at the work site who has not successfully completed a ten-hour construction safety program designed by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within ten days of employment at the work site: Provided, That this training requirement does not apply to any contracts for construction, reconstruction, alteration, remodeling or repairs of any single unit family home or any multifamily units two stories or less in height: Provided, however, That for the first year of the effective date of this section enacted during the Regular Session of the Legislature, 2014, completion of the ten-hour construction safety program shall occur within ninety days of employment at the work site.

    (b) Every contractor and subcontractor providing services shall make and maintain records of the persons he or she employs pursuant to the contract and, for each employee, the date of the employee’s completion of the safety training program and the identity of the provider of the training. These records shall be preserved pursuant to the provisions of section five, article five-c of this chapter and shall be maintained at the employer’s business office.

    (c) If the Commissioner of Labor or his or her designee finds a person who has not completed the OSHA safety training at a work site in violation of this section, the commissioner may issue a notice for that person to cease and desist in performing work at the site until the person has completed the training program.

    (d) The Commissioner of Labor may assess a a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 to any person or business entity who violates subsection (a) or (b) of this section for each violation.

    (e) Any person who, with knowledge that a document or other record falsely represents that a person has completed the training program identified in this section, provides or exhibits the document or record to the Commissioner of Labor or to his or her designee or to an employer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $250 nor more than $2,500, or confined in jail for not less than one nor more than thirty days, or both fined and confined.

    (f) The following individuals are exempt from the training requirements of this section:

    (1) Law-enforcement officers involved with traffic control or job site security;

    (2) Federal, state and municipal government employees and inspectors; and

    (3) Suppliers whose sole responsibility is to deliver materials to the work site and other delivery personnel.

    (g) The Commissioner of Labor shall report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance by January 1, 2017, on accident and injury rates at affected construction sites the two years prior and following implementation of this section, as enacted during the Regular Session of the Legislature, 2014.

    NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require onsite employees at certain works construction projects to complete an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) approved ten-hour construction safety program.

    This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.