AB 2334

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, within the Department of Industrial Relations, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law prohibits a person or public or private entity who is not a party to a claim for workers' compensation benefits from obtaining individually identifiable information, as defined, that is obtained or maintained by the division regarding that claim. Existing law permits, however, various state entities to use that information to carry out their duties. This bill would permit the Office of Self-Insurance Plans of the Department of Industrial Relations to use individually identifiable information as necessary to carry out its duties, as specified. Existing law requires, for purposes of the workers' compensation system, every employer except the state to secure the payment of compensation in one or more ways, including by securing from the Director of Industrial Relations a certificate of consent to self-insure either as an individual employer, or as one employer in a group of employers. Existing law requires all self-insured employers to file a self-insurer's annual report in a form prescribed by the director. Existing law requires the director to annually prepare an aggregated summary of all self-insured employer liability to pay compensation reported on the self-insured employers' annual reports, including a separate summary for public and private employer self-insurers, and requires the aggregated summaries to be made available to the public on the self-insurance section of the department's Internet Web site. This bill would authorize the director to publish information regarding the costs of administration, workers' compensation benefit expenditures, and solvency and performance of public self-insured employers' workers' compensation programs, as specified. Existing law gives the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, within the department, the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over every employment and place of employment in this state, which is necessary to adequately enforce and administer all laws requiring that employment and places of employment be safe, and requiring the protection of the life, safety, and health of every employee in that employment or place of employment. Existing law requires the division to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified, and to issue a citation for a violation relating to those standards. Existing law prohibits the division from issuing a citation more than 6 months after the occurrence of the violation. This bill would provide that an occurrence, for purposes of issuing a citation or notice for a violation of specified provisions relating to recordkeeping requirements, including any implementing related regulations, continues until it is corrected, the division discovers the violation, or the duty to comply with the requirement that was violated no longer exists. Existing law requires an employer to furnish a place of employment that is safe and healthful for employees. Existing law requires an employer to file a report of every occupational injury or occupational illness, as defined, of each employee that results in lost time beyond the date of the injury or illness, and that requires medical treatment beyond first aid, with the Department of Industrial Relations, or in the case of an insured employer, with the insurer, on a form prescribed by the department. Under existing law, an employer who violates occupational safety and health provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor, except where another penalty is specifically provided. This bill would require the division to monitor the rulemaking and implementation of the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule with respect to the electronic submission of workplace injury and illness data. The bill would also require the division, if the division determines that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has eliminated or substantially diminished this federal submission requirement, within 120 days of the determination, to convene an advisory committee, as specified, to evaluate how to implement changes necessary to protect the goals of the Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule, as specified. The bill would provide legislative findings and declarations in support of these provisions.