Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and requires the department to be conducted under the control of an executive officer known as the Director of Industrial Relations. Existing law states that the function of the department, among other things, is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment and vests the department with responsibility for administering the state plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards relating to issues covered by corresponding standards adopted pursuant to federal law.
Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the department to adopt occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with exposure to harmful airborne contaminants. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the department to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime.
This bill would impose restrictions on specified fabrication activities on certain slab solid surface products that are used for countertop installation or customization and surface applications. Specifically, a person or entity engaged in those fabrication activities would be prohibited from using dry methods, and would be required to use effective wet methods, as specified. The bill would make a violation of these provisions grounds for, among other disciplinary action, an immediate order by the division prohibiting continued fabrication activities on those stone slab products, but would specify that violation is not a crime.
The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, the department to adopt a training curriculum regarding the safe performance of fabrication activities on stone slab products that meets specified requirements, including classroom instruction, and to verify that an individual has completed that curriculum. Beginning July 1, 2027, the bill would require certain individuals, including an owner or operator of a slab solid surface product fabrication shop, to be enrolled in or have completed the training curriculum, except as specified, before fabrication activity or employment begins, as described.
The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the department to develop an application and certification process for fabrication shops to lawfully engage in stone slab product fabrication activities. The bill would authorize fabrication shops to engage in those fabrication activities during the pendency of the application development and certification process. The bill would require the department to develop an initial deposit process for fabrication shops to, during the pendency of the application development and certification process, submit a deposit fee for the application and certification subject to specified requirements, including that the deposit amount goes towards the initial certification fee collected by the department.
The bill would require, beginning July 1, 2027, the department to grant a 3-year certification to a fabrication shop that demonstrates satisfaction of specified criteria involving workplace safety conditions and precautions, and would authorize certification renewal, as specified. Among other conditions, the bill would establish certain regulatory fees in amounts to be determined and adjusted by the department, as specified, for the certification and renewal thereof. The bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke a certification in certain cases, including for gross negligence, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the State Department of Public Health, to track and keep a record of specified information on fabrication shops, including the number of citations issued to any of the fabrication shops for failure to comply with any temporary or future standards relating to respirable crystalline silica, as specified. The bill would prohibit a person or entity, or an employee thereof, from engaging in fabrication activities on slab solid surface products unless they conduct the fabrication activities at a fabrication shop that has submitted a valid initial deposit to the department, or, after July 1, 2027, has submitted an application for initial certification or renewal and the application is pending or that has a valid certification, as provided. The bill would specify that a violation of that prohibition may be reported to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, but is not a crime.
The bill would prohibit, beginning July 1, 2027, a person from supplying a slab solid surface product directly to a person, entity, or business engaged in fabrication activities on those products if the person, entity, or business does not have a valid, or pending application for, certification. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person, entity, or business engaged in fabrication activities on those products to verify that the person, entity, or business has a certification, as specified. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person, entity, or business that is not engaged in fabrication activities to rely on written certification issued under penalty of perjury that, among other things, they will not directly engage in fabrication activities with the product without a certification. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a person that seeks services that require fabrication activities and enters into a contract with a person, entity, or business to undertake fabrication activities to verify that the person, entity, or business has a valid certificate before engaging with and providing slab solid surface products to that person, entity, or business. The bill would specify that a violation of the above-described restrictions on supplying a slab solid surface product may be grounds for penalties as determined by the division, as specified, but is not a crime.
The bill would establish the Slab Fabrication Activity Account in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund in the State Treasury, and require all fees, penalties, or other moneys collected by the department under the above-described provisions to be deposited into the account. The bill would authorize moneys in the account to be expended by the department for the purposes of administering the above-described provisions, and would make that authorization contingent on an appropriation of funds for that express purpose.
The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.