AN ACT Relating to occupational safety and health; adding new sections to chapter 49.17 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 44.28 RCW; creating a new section; providing expiration dates; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to expedite the minimization of the risk of employees incurring musculoskeletal disorders. The legislature recognizes that prior to the adoption of the state's ergonomics rule, musculoskeletal disorder injuries were reduced more than twenty-eight percent over a seven-year period through voluntary efforts by employers and employees, and that more research, information, and education on reducing musculoskeletal disorders will greatly facilitate further reduction of these disorders. The legislature recognizes that both employers and employees have a number of existing incentives, both monetary and nonmonetary, to reduce musculoskeletal disorders, but that most employers and employees are not informed about what practices, products, and equipment are known to reduce these disorders. The legislature recognizes the wide diversity in cost estimates to comply with the state's rules, and the need to carefully analyze the costs to comply with the rules by employers and government agencies and the need to determine how to maximize reduction of musculoskeletal disorders in the most cost-effective way. The legislature further recognizes that there are many questions and concerns about implementation of the state's rules. Therefore, the legislature wishes to accelerate ergonomics awareness education. The legislature also wants to ensure that pilot demonstration projects for various industries, as contained in the department's implementation plan for the agency's rules to reduce musculoskeletal disorder, are carried out for key industries; that alternative musculoskeletal disorder reduction techniques can be tried; that certain information is obtained from all projects; and that the projects are initiated and completed so information to reduce injuries can be distributed as soon as possible, and the legislature and all interested parties can review the results of the projects. The legislature also wishes to have the joint legislative audit and review committee review the rules adopted by the department of labor and industries, and the results of the pilot demonstration projects, and make recommendations regarding the rules, alternatives to the rules, and the need for implementation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The legislature directs the department to accelerate the dissemination of ergonomics awareness education to employers and employees to the maximum extent possible within existing resources. The department shall make any necessary adjustments to the use of their resources to produce musculoskeletal disorder prevention and awareness education for employers and employees that is written, on-line, or available through other media, as determined to be cost-effective by the department, at the earliest date possible for use on a voluntary basis. The department shall obtain input from employers and employees from large and small businesses and units of government in preparing these materials.

(2) The department shall carry out comprehensive pilot demonstration projects on the technological and economic feasibility of implementing the rules adopted on May 26, 2000, by the director of the department of labor and industries and codified as WAC 296-62-05101 through 296-62-05176. The department shall, at the earliest date possible and within existing resources, establish pilot demonstration projects for industries first required to come into compliance with the rule. Demonstration projects for each of these industries shall include at least five employers with twenty-five or fewer employees, five employers with twenty-five to fifty employees, and five employers with over fifty employees, who volunteer to participate and who shall not be subject to any enforcement action as a result of the project. The department may establish more than one pilot demonstration project for each industry as it deems necessary. The pilot demonstration projects for these industries shall be completed, to the maximum extent possible, by July 1, 2003. The goal of each pilot demonstration project shall be:

(a) To test the implementation of the rule as adopted and based on a set of draft practices agreed to by the participants with the advice of the department, and to report at a minimum on the following:

(i) The cost of implementation including but not limited to monetary expenditures, both direct and indirect, and time for participating employers;

(ii) The ease of implementation and any implementation problems participants identify;

(iii) Any recommendations participants have to modify the rule;

(iv) The cost to the department to provide necessary technical assistance to employers to assist participants to implement the rule; and

(v) The effectiveness of the rule in reducing musculoskeletal disorders; and

(b) The results of allowing some participants, if they choose, to test alternatives to the rule in an effort to reduce musculoskeletal disorders and to provide the following information on each alternative tried:

(i) A clear description of the alternative;

(ii) The cost of implementation including but not limited to monetary expenditures, both direct and indirect, and time for participating employers;

(iii) The ease of implementation and any implementation problems participants identify;

(iv) Any recommendations participants have to modify the alternative;

(v) The cost to the department to provide necessary technical assistance to employers to assist them in implementing the alternative; and

(vi) The effectiveness of the alternative in reducing musculoskeletal disorders.

(3) To the extent possible within existing resources, the department of labor and industries shall provide periodic information to the industries identified in subsection (2) of this section and any other industries deemed appropriate by the department on practices, equipment, and products that have been identified by the department as being effective in reducing musculoskeletal disorders.

(4) This section expires June 30, 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 44.28 RCW to read as follows:

The joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct a review of the rule as adopted and the results of all demonstration projects arranged by the department to assess and make recommendations, including but not limited to:

(1) Review of the literature regarding the scientific justification for the rules, the expectation that the rules will reduce musculoskeletal disorders, and the degree to which the rules would reduce injury;

(2) The accuracy of the cost-benefit analyses prepared for the department rule;

(3) The ease of understanding and complying with the rule, identification of ambiguities and difficulties encountered during the demonstration projects to implement the rule, and recommendations to maximize understanding and minimize ambiguities and confusion for employers in complying with the rule;

(4) Ease of implementation of the rule based on the results of the pilot projects and recommendations on how to facilitate easier implementation and reduce costs while maintaining or increasing the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders;

(5) Results of any demonstration projects using alternative methods to reduce musculoskeletal disorders and the cost-effectiveness of each of the alternatives;

(6) Expected musculoskeletal disorder reductions as a result of the rule and any alternatives to the rule that were the subject of a demonstration project;

(7) Costs to comply with the rule and any alternative methods to reduce musculoskeletal disorders, based on the result of the demonstration projects; and

(8) Any other analysis, finding, or recommendation the committee deems useful in assessing effectiveness in reducing musculoskeletal disorders.

The committee shall report its finding by January 1st of each calendar year and shall issue a complete report by January 1, 2004.

Funding for this program will be taken from the reserves of the medical aid fund that are in excess of actuarial needs.

This section expires June 30, 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:

The department may adopt rules regarding the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders, also known as ergonomics rules, however, such rules shall provide for implementation no earlier than:

(1) July 1, 2005, for all employers in Standard Industrial Classification codes 078, 152, 174, 175, 176, 177, 242, 421, 451, 541, 805, and 836 who employ fifty or more annual full-time equivalents in Washington state, and for the Washington state department of labor and industries;

(2) July 1, 2006, for the remaining employers in Standard Industrial Classification codes 078, 152, 174, 175, 176, 177, 242, 421, 451, 541, 805, and 836, and all other employers who employ fifty or more annual full-time equivalents in Washington state;

(3) July 1, 2007, for all other employers employing eleven to forty-nine annual full-time equivalents in Washington state; and

(4) July 1, 2008, for all other employers employing ten or fewer annual full-time equivalents in Washington state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The director, in consultation with the WISHA advisory committee, shall establish a program to provide safety and health impact grants to prevent injuries and illnesses, save lives, and educate Washington employees and employers about work place hazards and safe work place practices. The intent of sections 5 through 11 of this act is to benefit, in the broadest sense possible, Washington workers and employers, especially those who are in small business and may lack the injury and illness prevention resources that larger companies may possess. The department may use appropriated industrial insurance funds to accomplish the purpose of sections 5 through 11 of this act. Funding for this program will be taken from the reserves of the medical aid fund that are in excess of actuarial needs.

(2) Using a competitive application process, the department shall award up to five million dollars per year in safety and health impact grants to trade associations, business associations, employers, employee organizations, labor unions, and groups of employees. The grants may include: (a) Education and training grants to implement safety and health and to provide practical information, curricula, materials, and methods intended for use by employers and employees in reducing work place hazards; (b) technical innovation grants to develop engineering and other technical solutions to injury and illness problems; or (c) best practice grants for the application of hazard control. The department shall attempt to ensure that best practice grants, in particular, are adequately represented in the final awarding of grants. In addition, the department shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that not less than twenty percent of the grant funds are used to assist small employers and employees in small businesses to improve safety and health in small firms.

(3) Applicants for grants may form partnerships with educational institutions and other organizations. Applicants for grants may form partnerships with self-insured employers if the product of the grant will significantly benefit employees and employers who belong to the state industrial insurance fund.

(4) Any materials, designs, or equipment developed under these grants will be in the public domain and shall not be copyrighted or patented. Any materials or designs developed under these grants shall be provided to the department at no charge as a condition of grant receipt.

(5) Grants shall not be used to support or develop specific legislative or regulatory initiatives.

(6) The department shall not use information contained in a grant application for inspection activity or to establish a recognized hazard for enforcement or citation purposes. The department shall not use the results of a grant to establish that the grantee is subject to citation or penalty for violation of a safety and health rule.

(7) All grants shall contain an accountability component that shall evaluate the impact on work place safety with results that are reported back to the safety and health impact grant review committee. The department shall cooperate in providing available data required to assist the grant recipients in measuring the impact.

(8) In order to encourage the broadest level of participation, no grant application shall be approved that proposes work that cannot be completed during the current application year or biennium. Applicants that seek additional funding in subsequent years will be eligible to submit new applications only if they have successfully completed the work for which they were previously funded, and these new applications will compete with all other applicants.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The director shall appoint a safety and health impact grant review committee that will be a subcommittee of the WISHA advisory committee. The review committee is composed of nine members: Four members representing employees, each appointed from a list of at least three names per position, submitted by recognized statewide organizations of employees; four members representing employers, each appointed from a list of at least three names per position, submitted by recognized statewide organizations of employers; and one ex officio member, without a vote, who shall represent the department. The committee chair shall be chosen by the review committee and shall alternate between business and labor. The committee members shall serve three-year renewable terms.

(2) Business and labor members of the safety and health impact grant review committee are entitled to expenses as provided under RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(3) The safety and health impact grant review committee shall:

(a) Prepare requests for proposals which shall include specific criteria and the weight to be given to each of the criteria in awarding grants;

(b) Receive, review, and process grant applications;

(c) Identify, by two-thirds majority vote, grant applications that merit funding and forward those applications to the director;

(d) Identify, by two-thirds majority vote, funded grants that meet criteria for suspension or revocation and forward those grants to the director; and

(e) Provide written notification to those grant applicants that do not merit funding explaining the reasons for denial.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) The safety and health impact grant review committee, in cooperation with the director, shall develop grant application procedures and approval criteria. The director shall ensure the proper administrative support to successfully monitor grant recipients for compliance with grant criteria and all other procedures under the grant program. The director in cooperation with the safety and health impact grant review committee shall implement procedures and criteria for grant approval, including procedures for suspension or revocation of grants to recipients failing to comply with grant criteria established under the authority of this section.

(2) The director shall approve only those grant applications and their recommended acceptance conditions as forwarded by the safety and health impact grant review committee, unless the director has a compelling and substantive reason to reject an application, whereupon the director shall provide written explanation for the denial to the review committee. The safety and health impact grant review committee shall review any grant applications rejected by the director and may advise the director to reconsider. The director shall consider the advice, if given, and shall approve the grant application with any conditions presented by the safety and health impact grant review committee. The director may reject that advice only for a compelling and substantive reason. If the director rejects that advice, the safety and health impact grant review committee may refer the application to the WISHA advisory committee. The WISHA advisory committee shall review the application and may advise the director to reconsider.

(3) The director may revoke or suspend an issued grant if advised by the safety and health impact grant review committee that the recipient is not in compliance with grant criteria or procedures. The director may suspend an issued grant without the advice of the safety and health impact grant review committee only for a compelling and substantive reason and the suspension recommendation shall be presented to the safety and health impact grant review committee for its consideration.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. For purposes of the 2001-2003 time frame, the director shall approve one grant application of up to one million dollars per year, and its recommended acceptance conditions as forwarded by the safety and health impact grant review committee, that is selected by the employee representatives of the review committee, unless the director has a compelling and substantive reason to reject the application, whereupon the director shall provide written explanation for the denial to the review committee. This grant shall be above and beyond the funding authorized in section 5(2) of this act. The entire review committee, by the normal two-thirds vote, shall forward such a grant proposal if the grant meets all other criteria and accountability requirements. The specified time frame in this section shall be determinative for meeting the grant duration requirements in section 5(8) of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The department and the safety and health impact grant review committee will present an annual review regarding the activities of the safety and health impact grant program to the WISHA advisory committee, the workers' compensation advisory committee, and make it available to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature. Based on a recommendation of the WISHA advisory committee, the workers' compensation advisory committee shall make a biennial recommendation to the director concerning an appropriate budget for the program and the maximum amount of individual grant awards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The director and representatives from the WISHA advisory committee shall perform a comprehensive review of the grant program which shall include, but not be limited to, reported outcomes, injury reduction, and safety awareness and shall issue a report to the legislature by December 31, 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The following acts or parts of acts, as now existing or hereafter amended, are each repealed, effective July 1, 2005:

(1) Section 5 of this act;

(2) Section 6 of this act;

(3) Section 7 of this act;

(4) Section 8 of this act;

(5) Section 9 of this act; and

(6) Section 10 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 5 through 11 of this act are each added to chapter 49.17 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. Sections 1 through 4 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect immediately.