H-1972

AN ACT Relating to human reproductive rights regarding hazardous substances in the workplace; amending RCW 49.17.050 and 49.60.180; adding a new section to chapter 49.44 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 49.12 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 18.76 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature acknowledges that the workplace environment may expose individuals to substances that may cause birth defects or constitute a hazard to an employee's reproductive system or to a fetus. Therefore, employers should disclose information to employees about workplace exposure to chemical or physical substances or workplace conditions that may cause birth defects or harm an individual's reproductive capacity. The legislature further finds that discrimination in the workplace because of reproductive status is an increasing concern. Information about workplace reproductive hazards is needed to assist in individual, corporate, and government decision making.

Sec. 2. RCW 49.17.050 and 1973 c 80 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

In the adoption of rules ((~~and regulations~~)) under the authority of this chapter, the director shall:

(1) Provide for the preparation, adoption, amendment, or repeal of rules ((~~and regulations~~)) of safety and health standards governing the conditions of employment of general and special application in all work places;

(2) Provide for the adoption of occupational health and safety standards which are at least as effective as those adopted or recognized by the United States secretary of labor under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596; 84 Stat. 1590);

(3) Provide a method of encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number of safety and health hazards at their work places and to stimulate employers and employees to institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions;

(4) Provide for the promulgation of health and safety standards and the control of conditions in all work places concerning gases, vapors, dust, or other airborne particles, toxic materials, or harmful physical agents which shall set a standard which most adequately assures, to the extent feasible, on the basis of the best available evidence, that no employee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity even if such employee has regular exposure to the hazard dealt with by such standard for the period of his or her working life; any such standards shall require where appropriate the use of protective devices or equipment and for monitoring or measuring any such gases, vapors, dust, or other airborne particles, toxic materials, or harmful physical agents;

(5) Provide for appropriate reporting procedures by employers with respect to such information relating to conditions of employment which will assist in achieving the objectives of this chapter;

(6) Provide for the frequency, method, and manner of the making of inspections of work places without advance notice; ((~~and,~~))

(7) Provide for the publication and dissemination to employers, employees, and labor organizations and the posting where appropriate by employers of informational, education, or training materials calculated to aid and assist in achieving the objectives of this chapter;

(8) Provide for the establishment of new and the perfection and expansion of existing programs for occupational safety and health education for employers and employees, and, in addition institute methods and procedures for the establishment of a program for voluntary compliance solely through the use of advice and consultation with employers and employees with recommendations including recommendations of methods to abate violations relating to the requirements of this chapter and all applicable safety and health standards and rules ((~~and regulations~~)) promulgated pursuant to the authority of this chapter;

(9) Provide for the adoption of safety and health standards requiring the use of safeguards in trenches and excavations and around openings of hoistways, hatchways, elevators, stairways, and similar openings;

(10) Provide for the promulgation of health and safety standards requiring the use of safeguards for all vats, pans, trimmers, cut off, gang edger, and other saws, planers, presses, formers, cogs, gearing, belting, shafting, coupling, set screws, live rollers, conveyors, mangles in laundries, and machinery of similar description, which can be effectively guarded with due regard to the ordinary use of such machinery and appliances and the danger to employees therefrom, and with which the employees of any such work place may come in contact while in the performance of their duties and prescribe methods, practices, or processes to be followed by employers which will enhance the health and safety of employees in the performance of their duties when in proximity to machinery or appliances mentioned in this subsection;

(11) Provide for the adoption of health and safety standards addressing employee exposure to chemical, biological, or physical reproductive hazards or hazards to a fetus. The standards shall include, but not be limited to: (a) State exposure standards for substances or conditions in the workplace that there is reason to believe will cause birth defects or constitute a hazard to an individual's reproductive system or capacity or to a fetus; and (b) requirements for informing employees and prospective employees of these substances or conditions. In adopting rules under this subsection, the department shall consult with a scientific advisory committee appointed by the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 49.44 RCW to read as follows:

(1) No employer, including the state or any political subdivision thereof, may condition the employment, transfer, or promotion of any individual on the sterilization of that individual, nor shall reproductive status be a criterion of employment. An employer may not terminate the employment of an employee because the employee refuses, on request of the employer, to submit to compulsory sterilization after exposure to a reproductive hazard.

(2) No employer, employment agency, or agent of either may request or require information from an employee or prospective employee relating to the individual's child-bearing age or plans, pregnancy, or function of the individual's reproductive system.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 49.12 RCW to read as follows:

If, based on the recommendation of a health care provider, an employee requests a temporary transfer to another job because of an exposure or potential exposure to hazardous substances identified by the department in rules adopted under RCW 49.17.050(11), the employer shall provide a transfer when work is available, without loss of pay, seniority, or any other employment-related benefits.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 18.76 RCW to read as follows:

The state poison control network centers shall include information about the reproductive hazards of the substances for which the center provides information.

Sec. 6. RCW 49.60.180 and 1985 c 185 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

It is an unfair practice for any employer:

(1) To refuse to hire any person because of age, sex, reproductive status, marital status, race, creed, color, national origin, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical handicap, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification: PROVIDED, That the prohibition against discrimination because of such handicap shall not apply if the particular disability prevents the proper performance of the particular worker involved.

(2) To discharge or bar any person from employment because of age, sex, reproductive status, marital status, race, creed, color, national origin, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical handicap.

(3) To discriminate against any person in compensation or in other terms or conditions of employment because of age, sex, reproductive status, marital status, race, creed, color, national origin, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical handicap: PROVIDED, That it shall not be an unfair practice for an employer to segregate washrooms or locker facilities on the basis of sex, or to base other terms and conditions of employment on the sex of employees where the commission by ((~~regulation or~~)) ruling in a particular instance has found the employment practice to be appropriate for the practical realization of equality of opportunity between the sexes.

(4) To print, or circulate, or cause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement, or publication, or to use any form of application for employment, or to make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment, which expresses any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to age, sex, reproductive status, marital status, race, creed, color, national origin, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical handicap, or any intent to make any such limitation, specification, or discrimination, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification: PROVIDED, Nothing contained herein shall prohibit advertising in a foreign language.