Washington State bills would modify workplace safety penalties, policies
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Bills introduced this week in Washington State propose to modify penalties for certain workplace safety violations and increase safety requirements for long-term care providers.
H.B. 2585, introduced Wednesday by Republican Rep. Joe Schlick, would modify state statutes to allow the director of the Washington Department of Labor and Industries to eliminate or reduce penalties for workplace safety violations if the deviation from the safety rules was done to prevent an imminent death or serious injury.
Currently, state law proposes fines of up to $70,000 for willful or repeat violations of safety or health standards, and up to $7,000 for first-time serious violations.
The bill would allow the director to waive or modify any violations and penalties if “immediate action was required to be taken due to imminent danger of loss of life or serious injury” and “no other practical option was immediately available.”
The bill has been referred to the Washington House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards.
S.B. 6205, a bill introduced Monday and sponsored by more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers, would require long-term care employers to adopt and maintain a comprehensive policy on how to address instances of harassment, abuse and discrimination of long-term care workers.
The legislation would require that these employers, beginning Jan. 1, 2021, create and disseminate a comprehensive written policy to all employees at the beginning of employment and annually that includes definitions of harassment, abuse and discrimination; identifies multiple people to whom employees may report policy violations; stated prohibitions against retaliation; and a list of resources available to long-term care workers suffering from abuse, discrimination, harassment or retaliation.
The bill would also require that long-term care employers re-evaluate the plan every three years and keep all records of reported incidents and impose fines of up to $5,000 for each violation.
