Chapter 448
AN ACT
HB 2222
Relating to employer safety committees; amending ORS 654.176 and
654.182.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1.
ORS 654.176 is amended to read:
654.176. [(1) In order] To promote health and
safety in places of employment in this state,[:]
[(a)] every public or private employer [of more than 10 employees shall establish and administer a safety
committee] shall, in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to ORS
654.182, establish and administer a safety committee or hold safety meetings.
[(b) Every public or private employer of 10 or fewer employees shall
establish and administer a safety committee in accordance with rules adopted
pursuant to ORS 654.182 if the Director of the Department of Consumer and
Business Services finds that:]
[(A) The employer has a lost workday cases incidence rate in the top 10
percent of all rates for employers in the same industry; or]
[(B) The employer is not an agricultural employer and the workers’ compensation
premium classification assigned to the greatest portion of the payroll for the
employer has a premium rate in the top 25 percent of premium rates for all
classes as approved by the director pursuant to ORS 737.320 (3).]
[(2) In making determinations under subsection (1) of this section, the
director shall utilize the most recent departmental statistics regarding
occupational injuries and illnesses and workers’ compensation loss cost rates
approved according to ORS 737.320 (3) for use in this state.]
SECTION 2.
ORS 654.182 is amended to read:
654.182. (1) In carrying
out ORS 654.176, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business
Services shall [promulgate rules which]
adopt rules that include, but are not limited to, provisions:
(a) Prescribing the
membership of the committees to [insure]
ensure equal numbers of employees, who are volunteers or are elected by
their peers, and employer representatives and specifying the frequency of
meetings.
(b) Requiring employers
to make adequate written records of each meeting and to file and maintain the
records subject to inspection by the director.
(c) Requiring employers
to compensate employee representatives on safety committees at the regular
hourly wage while the employees are engaged in safety committee training or are
attending safety committee meetings.
(d) Prescribing the
duties and functions of safety committees, which include, but are not limited
to:
(A) Establishing
procedures for workplace safety inspections by the committee.
(B) Establishing
procedures for investigating all safety incidents, accidents, illnesses and
deaths.
(C) Evaluating accident
and illness prevention programs.
(e) Prescribing
guidelines for the training of safety committee members.
(f) Prescribing
alternate forms of safety committees and safety meetings to meet the special
needs of small employers, agricultural employers and employers with mobile
worksites.
(2) An employer that is
a member of a multiemployer group operating under a collective bargaining agreement
that contains provisions regulating the formation and operation of a safety
committee that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of this section and
ORS 654.176 shall be considered to have met the requirements of this section
and ORS 654.176.
Approved by the Governor June 18, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 19, 2007
Effective date January 1, 2008
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