1378‑S AMH MAST CORD 2

SHB 1378 ‑ H AMD 181

By Representatives Mastin and Campbell

     On page 1, beginning on line 14, strike all of subsection (2) and insert the following:

     "(2)(a) If a worker has an occupational disease that is caused in part by occupational exposure during the course of employment not covered pursuant to RCW 51.12.020, the worker or the worker's beneficiaries shall receive benefits under this title as determined under this subsection (2).  For purposes of this section, it is presumed that injurious occupational exposure in employment covered by this title:

(i) Contributed to one hundred percent of the development of the disease if the period of injurious occupational exposure covered by this title was seventy-five percent or more of the total period of exposure.

(ii)  Contributed to the development of the disease only in the proportion to which the period of occupational exposure covered by this title bears to the total period of exposure, if the period of injurious occupational exposure in employment covered by this title is less than seventy-five percent of the total period of exposure.

(b) If under either (a)(i) or (a)(ii) of this subsection, injurious exposure occurred during employment under two or more employers covered under this title, then the cost of the benefits determined under this subsection shall be apportioned among the responsible covered employers.

(c) For the purposes of this subsection, "total period of exposure" means the total period of injurious exposure in employment covered under this title and in employment not covered pursuant to RCW 51.12.020."

EFFECT:  The amendment changes the method for establishing liability under the industrial insurance law for occupational diseases when exposure also occurs in noncovered employment.  Instead of presuming that development of the disease is proportional to the period of exposure, the amendment creates a presumption that:

     (1) if the period of exposure in covered employment is 75 percent or more of the total exposure, then liability is under covered employment.

     (2) if the period of exposure in covered employment is less than 75 percent of total exposure, then liability is proportional to the period of exposure.

     (3) if more than one covered employer is involved, the liability relating to covered employment will be apportioned among these employers.