Full Text of HB3131 103rd General Assembly
HB3131ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Lilian Jiménez Filed: 3/21/2023
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3131
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3131 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Workplace Safety Committees Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that | 7 | | hundreds of thousands of Illinois workers have contracted the | 8 | | disease related to the COVID-19 virus in the workplace, and | 9 | | that also hundreds are disabled each year from work-related | 10 | | injuries and diseases. The General Assembly finds that many | 11 | | COVID-19 infections, deaths, and workplace injury and illness | 12 | | losses are needless, costly, and could have been prevented. | 13 | | The General Assembly concludes that the establishment of joint | 14 | | management and worker safety committees will help prevent such | 15 | | losses and may reduce workers' compensation costs in this | 16 | | State. |
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| 1 | | Section 10. Purpose. It is the purpose of this Act to bring | 2 | | workers and management together in a non-adversarial, | 3 | | cooperative effort to promote safety and health in the | 4 | | workplace. The workplace safety committees established by this | 5 | | Act shall consist of management and employee representatives | 6 | | who have an interest in the general promotion of safety and | 7 | | health in the workplace. | 8 | | Section 15. Establishment of safety committees. | 9 | | (a) Every public and private employer of 30 or more | 10 | | employees located in Illinois shall establish and administer a | 11 | | safety committee. | 12 | | (b) To determine the employment levels under subsection | 13 | | (a), the employer shall count all permanent, contract, | 14 | | temporary, and seasonal workers under the employer's direction | 15 | | and control and shall base the number on peak employment. | 16 | | (c) Temporary services employers and labor contractors | 17 | | shall establish safety committees based upon the total number | 18 | | of workers over which the employer or contractor exercises | 19 | | direction and control. | 20 | | (d) Employers who hire only seasonal workers shall hold | 21 | | crew safety meetings prior to the commencement of the season | 22 | | at each job site. The meetings shall promote discussions of | 23 | | safety and health issues. All workers shall be informed of | 24 | | their right to inspect and report workplace hazards and shall |
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| 1 | | be encouraged to make those inspections and reports during the | 2 | | meetings according to provisions established in the federal | 3 | | Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. | 4 | | Section 20. Location of safety committees. | 5 | | (a) Safety committees shall be established at each of an | 6 | | employer's primary places of employment. As used in this Act, | 7 | | "primary place of employment" means a major economic unit at a | 8 | | single geographic location, comprised of a building or group | 9 | | of buildings, and all surrounding facilities, having the | 10 | | following characteristics: it has both management and workers | 11 | | present; it has control over a portion of a budget; and it has | 12 | | the ability to take action on the majority of the | 13 | | recommendations made by a safety committee. | 14 | | (b) An employer's auxiliary, mobile, or satellite | 15 | | locations, such as those found in construction operations, | 16 | | trucking, branch or field offices, sales operations, or highly | 17 | | mobile activities, may be combined into a single, centralized | 18 | | safety committee. This centralized safety committee shall | 19 | | represent the safety and health concerns of all the locations. | 20 | | Section 25. Recognition and approval of certain safety | 21 | | committees. If a public health emergency is declared, the | 22 | | Department of Labor and the Department of Public Health may | 23 | | recognize and approve safety committees that are innovative or | 24 | | differ in form or function if those safety committees meet the |
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| 1 | | purpose of this Act. | 2 | | Section 30. Safety committee formation and membership. | 3 | | (a) The safety committees required under this Act shall be | 4 | | composed of an equal number of employer and employee | 5 | | representatives. Employee representatives shall be selected by | 6 | | their exclusive representative for collective bargaining | 7 | | purposes or, if there is no exclusive representative, employee | 8 | | representatives shall be volunteers or shall be elected by | 9 | | their peers. Employer representatives shall be selected by | 10 | | management. When agreed upon by workers and management, the | 11 | | number of employees on the safety committee may be greater | 12 | | than the number of employer representatives. Seasonal workers | 13 | | shall not be counted for the purpose of determining the number | 14 | | of members who will serve on the safety committee. | 15 | | (b) The safety committees shall consist of no fewer than 4 | 16 | | members and shall have a chairperson elected by the safety | 17 | | committee members. | 18 | | (c) Employee representatives attending safety committee | 19 | | meetings required by this Act or participating in safety | 20 | | committee instruction or training required by this Act shall | 21 | | be compensated by the employer at the regular hourly wage. | 22 | | (d) Employee representatives shall serve a continuous term | 23 | | of at least one year. Length of membership shall be alternated | 24 | | or staggered so that at least one experienced member is always | 25 | | serving on the safety committee. |
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| 1 | | (e) Reasonable efforts shall be made to ensure that safety | 2 | | committee members are representative of the major work | 3 | | activities of the firm.
| 4 | | Section 35. Safety committee meetings. | 5 | | (a) The safety committee shall develop a written agenda | 6 | | for conducting safety committee meetings. The agenda shall | 7 | | prescribe the order in which safety committee business will be | 8 | | addressed during the meeting. | 9 | | (b) The safety committee shall hold regular meetings at | 10 | | least once a month. | 11 | | (c) Quarterly safety committee meetings may be substituted | 12 | | for monthly meetings when the safety committee's sole area of | 13 | | responsibility involves low hazard work environments. A low | 14 | | hazard workplace is a work environment that has not had a | 15 | | workplace accident, injury, or reportable medical disease | 16 | | causing the loss of working days for any worker during a | 17 | | 3-month period. | 18 | | (d) Minutes shall be made of each meeting. The employer | 19 | | shall maintain the minutes for 3 years for inspection by the | 20 | | Department of Labor and the Department of Public Health. | 21 | | Copies of the minutes shall be posted or made available for all | 22 | | employees and shall be sent in the manner the employer | 23 | | regularly communicates with workers. All reports, evaluations, | 24 | | and recommendations of the safety committee shall be made a | 25 | | part of the minutes of the safety committee meeting. |
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| 1 | | (e) For each recommendation made at the safety committee | 2 | | meetings, a reasonable time limit shall be established for the | 3 | | employer to respond in writing. The response should include | 4 | | the action taken to comply with the recommendations, and, in | 5 | | case of noncompliance, the reasons why implementing the action | 6 | | was not accomplished and a time frame to comply.
| 7 | | Section 40. Employee involvement. The safety committee | 8 | | shall establish a system to allow the members to obtain | 9 | | safety-related suggestions, reports of hazards, or other | 10 | | information directly from all persons involved in the | 11 | | operations of the workplace. The information obtained shall be | 12 | | reviewed at the next safety committee meeting and shall be | 13 | | recorded in the minutes for review and necessary action by the | 14 | | employer.
| 15 | | Section 45. Hazard assessment and control. | 16 | | (a) The safety committee shall assist the employer in | 17 | | evaluating the employer's accident and illness prevention | 18 | | program and shall make written recommendations to improve the | 19 | | program when applicable. The safety committee shall also: | 20 | | (1) include employer and employee representatives in | 21 | | inspection teams, shall document in writing the location | 22 | | and identity of the hazards, and shall make | 23 | | recommendations to the employer regarding correction of | 24 | | the hazards; and |
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| 1 | | (2) conduct quarterly inspections of satellite | 2 | | locations by the safety committee team or by a person | 3 | | designated at the location. | 4 | | (b) The person designated to carry out inspection | 5 | | activities at the locations identified in paragraphs (1) and | 6 | | (2) of subsection (a) shall be selected by the employer and | 7 | | shall receive training in hazard identification in the | 8 | | workplace.
| 9 | | Section 50. Safety and health planning. The safety | 10 | | committee shall establish procedures for the review of all | 11 | | safety and health inspection reports made by the safety | 12 | | committee. Based on the results of the review, the safety | 13 | | committee shall make recommendations for improvement of the | 14 | | employer's accident and illness prevention program. The safety | 15 | | committee shall evaluate the employer's accountability system | 16 | | and make recommendations to implement supervisor and employee | 17 | | accountability for safety and health. | 18 | | Section 55. Accident investigation. The safety committee | 19 | | shall establish procedures for investigating all | 20 | | safety-related incidents including injury accidents, | 21 | | illnesses, and deaths. This Section shall not be construed to | 22 | | require the safety committee to conduct the investigations.
| 23 | | Section 60. Safety and health training and instruction. |
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| 1 | | (a) The following items shall be discussed with all safety | 2 | | committee members: | 3 | | (1) safety committee purposes and operation; | 4 | | (2) rules adopted by the Department of Labor under | 5 | | this Act; and | 6 | | (3) methods of conducting safety committee meetings. | 7 | | (b) Safety committee members shall have ready access to | 8 | | Occupational Safety and Health Codes that apply to the | 9 | | particular establishment and verbal instructions regarding | 10 | | their use. | 11 | | (c) All safety committee members shall receive training | 12 | | based upon the type of business activity. At a minimum, | 13 | | members shall receive training regarding:
| 14 | | (1) hazard identification in the workplace; and | 15 | | (2) principles regarding effective accident and | 16 | | incident investigations. | 17 | | (d)
The safety committee shall assist the employer in | 18 | | providing information, instruction, training, and supervision | 19 | | as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably | 20 | | practicable, the health and safety of employees at work and | 21 | | individuals affected by their activities. This may include | 22 | | training concerning hazard communication standards, emergency | 23 | | action plans, fire safety, emergency exit routes, walking and | 24 | | working surfaces, medical emergencies and first aid, blood | 25 | | borne pathogens, fall protection, general safety and health, | 26 | | lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, confined spaces, |
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| 1 | | and respiratory protection. The training shall be provided in | 2 | | the primary languages commonly understood in the workplace. | 3 | | Section 65. Special public health emergency provisions. | 4 | | During a public health emergency declared by the Governor, | 5 | | until the health authorities declare an end to it, the safety | 6 | | committee shall have the following special functions: | 7 | | (1) Collect and post in conspicuous places, such as | 8 | | bulletin boards, lunch rooms, and dressing rooms at each | 9 | | location, information issued by the Centers for Disease | 10 | | Control and Prevention, the United States Department of | 11 | | Labor, the federal Occupational Safety and Health | 12 | | Administration, the Department of Public Health, and | 13 | | others concerning prevention and measures concerning the | 14 | | public health emergency declared by the Governor. The | 15 | | postings shall be printed in the primary languages used in | 16 | | the workplace as determined by the Department of Labor by | 17 | | rule. | 18 | | (2) Collect and post in such locations, and deliver to | 19 | | all workers, executive orders concerning the public health | 20 | | emergency declared by the Governor. The postings shall be | 21 | | printed in the primary languages used in the workplace as | 22 | | determined by the Department of Labor by rule. | 23 | | (3) Prepare and implement a response plan to be | 24 | | executed in case an outbreak occurs in the workplace. An | 25 | | outbreak means the existence of 2 or more workers |
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| 1 | | presenting symptoms related to the public health emergency | 2 | | declared by the Governor. | 3 | | (4) Make sure all mandated reporting of outbreaks to | 4 | | the Department of Public Health is implemented.
| 5 | | Section 70. Civil penalty. The Department may conduct | 6 | | investigations in connection with the administration and | 7 | | enforcement of this Act. Upon determination, after reasonable | 8 | | notice and opportunity for a hearing, that an employer has | 9 | | violated this Act by not having established a safety committee | 10 | | or not convening a meeting over 6 months, the Department of | 11 | | Labor may levy a civil penalty as established by rule. The | 12 | | Attorney General may bring an action in the circuit court to | 13 | | enforce the collection of any monetary penalty.".
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