Compare Versions


PDF |Add To My Favorites | print page

AB-3031 Safety in employment: power tools: training.(2017-2018)



Current Version: 02/16/18 - Introduced Compare Versions information image


AB3031:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3031

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 16, 2018

An act to add Section 6403.7 to the Labor Code, relating to employment.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3031, as introduced, Quirk. Safety in employment: power tools: training.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, establishes certain safety and other responsibilities of employers and employees, including the requirement that employers provide safety devices and safeguards reasonably necessary to render the employment safe. A knowing or repeated violation is a crime.
This bill would require an employer whose employees are involved in using power tools or other equipment for the cutting, grinding, coring, or drilling of concrete or masonry materials to provide specified training to those employees to reduce health hazards associated with the inhalation or ingestion of dust arising from those operations.
Because a knowing or repeated violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 6403.7 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6403.7.
 An employer whose operations include using powered tools or equipment to cut, grind, core, or drill concrete or masonry materials shall provide training on all of the following topics to all employees prior to their assignment to jobs or work areas where the employer will be conducting these operations:
(a) Potential health hazards of overexposure to airborne dust generated from concrete and masonry materials, including silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and decreased lung function.
(b) Methods used by the employer to control employee exposures to airborne dust from concrete and masonry materials, including wet cutting, local exhaust ventilation systems, and isolation of the process from the operator or other employees by means of distance, enclosure, or other method, as applicable.
(c) Proper use and maintenance of dust reduction systems, including the safe handling and disposal of waste materials collected in connection with their use.
(d) The importance of good personal hygiene and housekeeping practices when working in proximity to dust from concrete and masonry materials, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Not smoking tobacco products, appropriate methods of cleaning up before eating, and appropriate methods of cleaning clothes.
(2) Avoiding, to the extent practical, activities that would contribute significantly to an employee’s exposure to airborne dust.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.