BILL REQ. #:  H-1431.1 

Read first time 02/01/2007.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to providing industrial insurance coverage for workers involved in harvesting geoduck clams; and amending RCW 51.12.100.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 51.12.100 and 1991 c 88 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of this title shall not apply to a master or member of a crew of any vessel, or to employers and workers for whom a right or obligation exists under the maritime laws or federal employees' compensation act for personal injuries or death of such workers.
     (2) If an accurate segregation of payrolls of workers for whom such a right or obligation exists under the maritime laws cannot be made by the employer, the director is hereby authorized and directed to fix from time to time a basis for the approximate segregation of the payrolls of employees to cover the part of their work for which no right or obligation exists under the maritime laws for injuries or death occurring in such work, and the employer, if not a self-insurer, shall pay premiums on that basis for the time such workers are engaged in their work.
     (3) Where two or more employers are simultaneously engaged in a common enterprise at one and the same site or place in maritime occupations under circumstances in which no right or obligation exists under the maritime laws for personal injuries or death of such workers, such site or place shall be deemed for the purposes of this title to be the common plant of such employers.
     (4) In the event payments are made under this title prior to the final determination under the maritime laws or federal employees' compensation act, such benefits shall be repaid by the worker or beneficiary if recovery is subsequently made under the maritime laws or federal employees' compensation act.
     (5) Commercial divers harvesting geoduck clams, workers tending to such divers, and the employers of such divers and tenders are subject to the provisions of this title whether or not such work is performed from a vessel.