ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
ASSEMBLY, No. 2094
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 19, 1996
Sponsored by Assemblyman ROMA and
Assemblywoman ALLEN
An Act concerning Joint Safety and Health Committees and workers' compensation premiums, supplementing chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes, amending R.S.34:15-89, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) For the purposes of this act:
"Contractor" means an employer that is a construction or maintenance contractor.
"Committee" means a Joint Safety and Health Committee established pursuant to section 3 of this act.
"Commission" means the Workplace Safety and Health Commission established pursuant to section 2 of this act.
"Designated industry" means an industry which is found and designated by the Commission of Labor to have a relatively high level of safety and health hazards and shall include, but not be limited to, all industries under the following group numbers of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), as designated by the Standard Industrial Classification Manual prepared by the Federal Office of Management and Budget: 01-09 (agriculture, forestry and fishing); 15-17 (construction); 20-39 (manufacturing); and 41-49 (transportation, communications, electric, gas and sanitary services).
"Employee representative" means an organization engaged in a collective bargaining or collective negotiation relationship with an employer.
"Employer" means any employer as defined in R.S. 34:15-36, except for the State or any department, division, bureau, board, council, agency or authority of the State other than a bi-State authority.
"Facility" means all buildings, structures or other stationary items located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites used for the conduct of business and which are owned or operated by the same employer.
"Safety and health programs" means all safety and health programs of a facility or contractor, including accident and illness prevention programs and programs to minimize the danger of violence to employees, including programs developed and implemented pursuant to P.L.1996, c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as Assembly Bill No.1656).
2. (New section) a. There is established, in the Department of Labor, the Workplace Safety and Health Commission. The commission shall consist of 13 members as follows: the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Labor, the Commissioner of Commerce and Economic Development and the Commissioner of Personnel or their designees, who shall serve ex-officio and shall be non-voting members; and eight public members who have knowledge, competence or experience in connection with occupational safety and health, workplace injuries and illnesses or safety and health programs. Of the eight public members, four shall be appointed by the Governor from a list or lists of nominees provided by one or more recognized State-wide organizations representing businesses and the other four shall be appointed by the Governor from a list or lists of nominees provided by one or more recognized State-wide organizations representing labor unions.
b. All appointments shall be made within 90 days after the effective date of this act. The appointed members of the commission shall serve for a term ending on December 31, 1999. Vacancies in the membership of the appointed members of the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.
c. The members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the commission, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission for its purposes.
d. The commission shall organize as soon as possible after the appointments are made and shall select a chairperson from among its members. The commission may appoint a secretary, who need not be a member of the commission. The commission shall meet at least quarterly and may hold meetings and hearings at such places and times as it designates. No action shall be taken by the commission except by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the commission who are voting members pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
e. The commission shall:
(1) Review employer applications for workers' compensation premium reductions, make recommendations to the compensation rating and inspection bureau regarding the reductions pursuant to section 3 of this act and make determinations, pursuant to R.S.34:15-89, regarding whether Joint Safety and Health Committees are in operation; and
(2) Issue a report to the Governor and the Legislature not later than June 1, 1999 which evaluates and describes the effectiveness of the provisions of this act and of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as the Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 2093 of 1996) in improving workplace safety and health. The report shall make recommendations regarding whether to modify or continue after December 31, 1999 the provisions of this act, recommendations whether to modify the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as the Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No.2093 of 1996), and recommendations regarding other possible methods to induce more employers to establish Joint Safety and Health Committees. The report shall include any draft legislation needed to implement recommendations of the report. The commission shall expire on December 31, 1999.
f. The commission may hold public hearings and shall have access to relevant files and records of each Joint Safety and Health committee established pursuant to the provisions of this act and P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as the Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No.2093 of 1996) and relevant files and records of the Department of Banking and Insurance, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health, the Department of Personnel and other relevant State agencies and may call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of those departments and agencies to provide whatever information the commission deems relevant and necessary in the performance of its functions. Any information obtained from or about any employer, employees of the employer or employee representative of the employees by the commission shall be retained solely for the use of the commission in the implementation of this act, and shall not be disclosed except as part of a report made by the commission pursuant to this act. No report of the commission shall include information which is identifiable with any specific employer, employee of the employer or employer representative of the employee without the written consent of the employer and any employee representative of the employer's employees.
g. Expenses of the commission deemed necessary by the Commissioner of Labor to carry out its responsibilities under the provisions of this 1996 amendatory and supplementary act, which shall not exceed $150,000 during any fiscal year, shall be regarded as administrative expenses of the Division of Workers' Compensation for the purposes of R.S.34:15-94.
3. (New section) An employer who, after the effective date of this act, establishes a Joint Safety and Health Committee which complies with the provisions of this act may submit an application to the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance for a workers' compensation premium reduction pursuant to the provisions of R.S.34:15-89. Upon receipt of the application, the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance shall refer the application to the Workplace Safety and Health Commission, which shall determine whether the requirements of this section are being met in connection with the application, and, if it determines that the requirements are being met, recommend, not more than 60 days after the referral, that the compensation rating and inspection bureau reduce the workers' compensation premium of the employer pursuant to the provisions of R.S.34:15-89. The commission shall retain copies of the applications until the commission completes the report it is required to make pursuant to section 2 of this section.
An employer shall receive a workers' compensation premium reduction pursuant to this section for establishing a Joint Safety and Health Committee if the following requirements are met:
a. The employer shall establish one or more Joint Safety and Health Committees at each facility covered by the workers' compensation policy subject to the premium reduction, or, if the employer is a contractor, the employer shall establish one or more Joint Safety and Health Committees which have members at each facility where employees of the contractor work;
b. Each committee shall have, taking into consideration the size of the facility or facilities, a reasonable number of members, which shall in no case be less than four members, to carry out its duties and each committee shall consist of an equal number of employer members and employee members;
c. If employees at the facility or the employees of the contractor are represented by an employee representative, each committee shall be established with the participation and the written consent of both the employer and the employee representative;
d. If employees at the facility or the employees of the contractor are represented by an employee representative, that employee representative shall select the employee members of each committee;
e. If employees at the facility or the employees of the contractor are represented by more than one employee representative:
(1) Each employee representative shall select a number of employee members to the committee which is in proportion to the number of employees represented by the employee representative at the facility or in proportion to the number of employees of the contractor represented by the employee representative; or
(2) A separate committee shall be established for each employee representative;
f. If no employees at the facility or no employees of the contractor are represented by an employee representative, the employee members of each committee shall be employees who have volunteered to be committee members and are not managers or supervisors;
g. Each committee shall be required, in a manner consistent with standards set by the Commissioner of Labor, in consultation with the commission and the Commissioner of Health, to:
(1) Hold regular meetings, not less than once each month, unless the employer and employee members of the committee agree to meet less frequently than once each month, and prepare written minutes of the meetings;
(2) Collect and analyze information regarding the effectiveness of safety and health programs at the facility in preventing injury and illness and prepare written reports for the employer of its findings; (3) Collect and analyze information regarding safety and health conditions at the facility, by means including inspections which cover the facility not less than one time each calendar quarter if the facility is in a designated industry, or not less than one time in six months if the facility is not in a designated industry, and investigations of accidents and exposures, for which the committee shall be given timely and reasonable access to conduct the investigations and prepare written reports for the employer of its findings;
(4) Reduce and prevent injury and illness by disseminating information to employees and raising employee awareness regarding safety and health conditions and the best practices; and
(5) Keep and make available to employees and the employer all records of the committee, including all minutes and reports of the committee, for a period of not less than three years, provided that, if the operations of the committee are discontinued, the employer shall keep and make available the records of the committee during the required period;
h. All reports made by the committee pursuant to subsection g. of this section shall fully reflect the views of the employer and employee members of the committee;
i. If no employee at the facility or no employee of the contractor is represented by an employee representative, the committee shall not deal or bargain with the employer concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment or conditions of work and all findings of the committee shall be advisory;
j. If employees at the facility or the employees of the contractor are represented by one or more employee representatives, the operations of the committee shall not violate any provision of a collective bargaining agreement; and, if the committee is established pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, the committee may exercise, in addition to the responsibilities indicated in this section, any other responsibilities permitted by law and the collective bargaining agreement;
k. Committee members shall be compensated by the employer at their regular wage for time spent performing committee duties and training provided pursuant to subsection l. of this section; and
l. Committee members shall be provided with training which is designed to enable them to carry out their duties as committee members and which complies with standards set by the Commissioner of Labor in consultation with the commission and the Commissioner of Health. The training for committee members may include occupational safety and health training which complies with those standards and is provided pursuant to the Workforce Development Partnership Program established pursuant to P.L.1992, c.43 (C.34:15D-1 et seq.).
If the employer, or any employee representative of employees of the employer, elects to discontinue participation in the committee, the committee shall be regarded as not in operation for the purpose of this act.
4. R.S.34:15-89 is amended to read as follows:
34:15-89. a. The compensation rating and inspection bureau as created and established by the act entitled "An act concerning the compulsory insurance of compensation payments arising under section 2 of an act entitled, 'An act prescribing the liability of an employer to make compensation for injuries received by an employee in the course of employment, establishing an elective schedule of compensation, and regulating procedure for the determination of liability and compensation thereunder,' approved April 4, 1911," approved March 27, 1917 (L.1917, c.178, p.522), as amended and supplemented is continued under the supervision of the [Commissioner of Banking and Insurance] commissioner.
It shall establish and maintain rules, regulations and premium rates for [workmen's] workers' compensation and employer's liability insurance and equitably adjust the same, as far as practicable, to the hazard of individual risks, by inspection by the bureau.
It shall adopt means for assuring uniform and accurate audit of payrolls as they relate to policies of [workmen's] workers' compensation and employer's liability insurance by auditors, appointed by the bureau, with the approval of the [said] commissioner or by such other means as the bureau may, with the approval of the [Commissioner of Banking and Insurance] commissioner, establish.
It shall furnish upon request to any of its members or to any employer upon whose risk a rating has been promulgated by it, information as to such rating, including the method of its computation, and shall encourage employers to reduce the number and severity of accidents by adjusting premiums and rates, through the use of credits and debits or other proper factors, under such uniform system of experience or other form of merit rating as may be approved by the [said] commissioner.
b. On and after the effective date of P.L. , c. (now pending before the Legislature as this bill) and until December 31, 1999, the compensation rating and inspection bureau shall, upon the recommendation of the Workplace Safety and Health Commission pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill), reduce, for a period of one year, the workers' compensation premiums paid by an employer by 5%, if the employer establishes, after that effective date, one or more Joint Safety and Health Committees which comply with the provisions of that act. An employer shall not receive a premium reduction pursuant to this subsection more than one time. If the operation of a Joint Safety and Health Committee for which an employer has received a reduction in premiums pursuant to this subsection is discontinued during the one-year period to which either premium reduction applies, the employer shall notify the commission and the bureau and shall repay to the insurer a portion of the premium reduction determined by the bureau to be proportional to the amount of time during the one-year period during which the commission determines that the committee is not in operation. No payment by the employer shall be required by the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill), other than the repayment of the premium pursuant to this subsection.
(cf: P.L.1955, c.108, s.1)
5. (New section) The Commissioner of Labor, in consultation with the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, the Commissioner of Health and the Workplace Safety and Health Commission, shall, pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of this 1996 amendatory and supplementary act.
6. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Workplace Safety and Health Commission $75,000 to implement the provisions of this act.
7. This act shall take effect on the 180th day following enactment and sections 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 shall expire on December 31, 1999.
Concerns Joint Safety and Health Committees and workers' compensation; appropriates $75,000.