HB 471 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

20may99.....0795h

1999 SESSION

99-0654 01/09

HOUSE BILL 471

AN ACT exempting certain family owned and operated businesses from certain requirements in the workers' compensation act relative to safety programs.

SPONSORS: Rep. Gilman, Graf 1

COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill exempts certain family owned and operated businesses from certain requirements under the workers' compensation act relative to safety.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20may99.....0795h

99-0654

01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine

AN ACT exempting certain family owned and operated businesses from certain requirements in the workers' compensation act relative to safety programs.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Exemption for Certain Businesses Added. Amend the section heading and paragraphs I-V of RSA 281-A:64 to read as follows:

281-A:64 Safety Provisions; Administrative Penalty; Exemption Added.

I. Every employer shall provide employees with safe employment. Safe employment includes but is not limited to furnishing personal protective equipment, safety appliances and safeguards; ensuring that such equipment, appliances, and safeguards are used regularly; and adopting work methods and procedures which will protect the life, health, and safety of the employees.

II.(a) Except as provided in subparagraph (b), all employers with 10 or more employees shall prepare, with the assistance of the commissioner, a current written safety program. The programs shall be filed biennially with the commissioner on January 1. Employer programs shall, in addition to the specific rules and regulations regarding worker safety, include the process of warnings, job suspension, and job termination for violations of the safety rules and regulations set forth in the program.

(b) Subparagraph (a) shall not apply to family owned and operated businesses of 15 employees or less, provided that the employer does not have lost time claims over a 3-year period which exceed 3 days for any employee.

III.(a) Except as provided in subparagraph (b), every employer of 5 or more employees shall establish and administer a joint loss management committee composed of equal numbers of employer and employee representatives. Employee representatives shall be selected by the employees. If workers are represented by a union, the union shall select the employee representatives. The joint loss management committee shall meet regularly to develop and carry out workplace safety programs, alternative work programs that allow and encourage injured employees to return to work, and programs for continuing education of employers and employees on the subject of workplace safety. The committee shall perform all duties required in rules adopted pursuant to this section.

(b) Subparagraph (a) shall not apply to family owned and operated businesses of 15 employees or less, provided that the employer does not have lost time claims over a 3-year period which exceed 3 days for any employee.

IV. Employers subject to the requirements of paragraph III, other than employers participating in the safety incentive program under RSA 281-A:64-a, shall be placed on a list for early and periodic workplace inspections by the department's safety inspectors in accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner. Such employers shall comply with the directives of the department resulting from such inspections.

V. Notwithstanding paragraphs III and IV, an employer of 5 or more employees subject to such paragraphs may satisfy the requirements of those paragraphs if such employer implements an equivalent loss management and safety program approved by the commissioner.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2000.